Maybe Her Life Will Be Swell
by markaleen
Summary: Grace's POV starting with the arrival of the 'Mudge's' and events following (including having to keep a relationship with Oliver under-wraps).
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Annie, just sharing a fanfiction.**

**This is my first Annie story, so it's more me trying to get into the feel of writing for these characters. I was debating whether or not to post but I liked how it turned out. The story is told in Grace's POV, starting with Annie finding her 'parents' and the events following (with mentions of some of the earlier events). I also included the unused part of the Maybe reprise they show in the Lights, Camera, Annie! special. Since they spoke over most of it, I wasn't able to catch a couple of the words or the exact order the lines belong, so I put them as I saw fit. I feel like towards the end of the film Grace and Annie's bond was somewhat abandoned in order to focus on Annie and Oliver's relationship. So my wanting to fix that aspect was what inspired this story.**

**One more thing before I stop babbling, this was originally intended to be a oneshot, but as I was editing I felt chapters would work better. Just wanted to say that in case some very short chapters appear.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**UPDATE: 8/18/2014 - I noticed a lot of typos and errors in this story so I went back and fixed/reuploaded them. The plot is still the same, just some sentences are restructured. Also, I have decided to continue the story, though it may take some time to write, edit, upload, etc. but I will get it done as quickly as possible :) I'm planning on just adding the new chapters to this story, so when it's updated I will say so in the story description.**

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"I'll go pack…"

"Want me to help, baby?"

"No thanks… Mom."

My heart completely fell to the floor when I heard Annie call this woman Shirley, 'mom'. Well, to be honest, it'd already sunk the moment she pulled out the other half of Annie's locket… or was it when she ran and hugged Annie… Whenever it was doesn't really matter; the point is that this little girl I'd fallen in love with, though she'd only been in my life a short time—was leaving. So much had changed because of her. The big mansion didn't seem so empty anymore. Sure, it had always been filled by the staff, but it wasn't quite the same. They adored her as well; it's hard not to. Best of all, I finally got to see a softer side to Oliver Warbucks—the side I've always known was there deep down. It took some convincing him to let Annie stay, but once he gave in, I knew he was falling in love with her too. I had a hunch the evening we all went to the movies—and even more specifically, when he and I put her to bed later that night. After I'd kissed Annie goodnight and right before I turned off the light, I saw a look in his eyes I'd never seen before. The look gave me the courage the next morning to ask him if Annie could stay: permanently. Normally, I wouldn't have requested such a thing, but how on Earth was I supposed to send that little girl back to that dingy, horrible orphanage? Especially when that awful Miss Hannigan was in charge... I didn't like the woman when I met her, and once Annie told me more about her and the life she gave them, I despised her. Again, it took some convincing, but I think it was more a matter of getting Oliver to open his heart rather than his home. Plus, I think once he agreed and gave it more thought, he was just as happy as I. Not long after, he fully opened up his heart to her—to everyone. Though he was anxious about asking Annie to stay permanently, he was much calmer than he usually was. Perhaps I should say it was a different sort of jitteriness. Normally, if something was bothering or upsetting him, he'd bellow at the first person to cross his path (something I'd grown accustomed to being his secretary which meant crossing his path quite frequently). This time, he was snappy: nothing near his usual tyrant personality. Snappiness was far easier to bear. I saw this as a fresh start… and maybe it'd be the start of something between him and I... Annie picked up on my feelings for him right away and tried encouraging me to make a move. Also, I think she mentioned something to Oliver because the same day I asked to keep her, he called me Grace for the first time, told me how pretty I was (I have to thank Annie for that one, I took her advice and let my hair down for once… more or less), and on top of that we just couldn't seem to take our eyes off one another. Being in such a daze by the entire situation caused me to blurt out, 'I could just kiss you' when he not only agreed to keep Annie, but said he'd get the papers signed himself. Everything was perfect: Annie was going to be adopted, a future appeared to be starting with Oliver—nothing was going bring me down.

However, something unexpected happened later on that did indeed make my good mood disappear: Annie wanted to find her real parents—something I'd known nothing about. Here I thought she'd told me everything, but she left out that very important factor. Although Oliver was dead set on finding her mother and father, I knew that he was really hurting. I learned over the years that the braver he acts, the more vulnerable he's feeling.

After making several calls, Oliver announced the reward for Annie's parents on the radio and put an ad in the paper. The next day, hundreds of couples showed up at the door in attempts to claim her (well not so much her, but the money). I took one look at the mob that was formed outside the gates and told Oliver that Annie couldn't witness the crowd. There was no need to expose her to such a scene. While they went to visit the president (Oliver's dreaded solution), I remained in New York and interviewed over 800 couples. Despite the exhaustion of it all and the disappointment for Annie that her parents hadn't been among the couples; it was the idea of all those dishonest crooks that turned my stomach the most. Yes, $50,000 is a lot of money, especially during this Depression; but what if someone **had **been able to pose as Annie's parents? What would have happened to her? What would have happened when she found out? Hadn't that poor girl been through enough already?

Nearly in tears after telling Annie I hadn't found her mother and father, I watched her sadly walk away with her head down as I relayed my thoughts to Oliver about my experience with the crowd. The selfish part of me was surprised I hadn't felt any joy in not finding her parents which would leave us free to adopt her. Maybe because I knew Oliver would stop at nothing until we found them. And even if he were a quitter, how could I see that little girl so disappointed? She wanted her **real **parents, and I wasn't going to get in the way of that with my own self-centered emotions. As long as there was a way and a chance to grant Annie's wish, I'd be fighting and searching right along with Oliver.


	2. Chapter 2

Finally, I had the chance to just sit and breathe while Oliver went after Annie. However, the relaxation was short lived much to my dismay. The doorbell rang and I was faced with one more couple: Ralph and Shirley Mudge. Initially, their story didn't seem to differ too much from the other couples' other than knowing which orphanage they'd left Annie. Although, the woman looked like she **could **be Annie's mother; she had the curly, red hair, but that doesn't mean anything. They probably saw Annie's picture in the paper.

Shortly after Ralph and Shirley's arrival, Oliver and Annie came in to the study to see who had been at the door. Oliver questioned who the people were so I introduced them (trying to hide the exhaustion in my voice). This is when Shirley jumped up and hugged Annie. Afterwards, she pulled out the other half of Annie's locket—a perfect match. For a brief moment I had to grab hold of the desk to keep from falling, but I regained my strength and managed to maintain my composure. I looked to Oliver to see what his reaction to all of this was. "I suppose you heard about the reward on the radio." he interrogated. The couple innocently questioned what he was referring to. Not buying this innocent obliviousness, he added, "In the paper." Again they questioned what he meant. At this point, I chimed in with an interrogation of my own, "How did you know Annie was here?" Ralph proceeded to explain that they'd gone to the orphanage to retrieve Annie and Miss Hannigan directed them here. I will say it was kind of odd that he referred to her as 'kind'. The woman was anything but kind: I literally had to pull Annie away from her when I was there (which quickly had turned into a tug of war)—and not because she was going to miss the child, but because she didn't want 'the brat' to spend 'a week in the lap of luxury'; that she needed to learn her place. Oh, I suppose she was kind enough at first, a bit phony, but kind enough; that was before Annie made her presence noticed.

After Ralph mentioned Miss Hannigan, Shirley showed Oliver Annie's birth certificate. After he read it aloud, Annie, seemingly trying to process all this herself, left to go pack. Oliver watched Annie walk away and then turned to back Ralph and Shirley. He was really hurting; I could see it in his eyes. I've known him for years and hurt was an emotion he seldom expressed. In all honesty, I think it scared him to feel this much; remember, this is a man who hadn't allowed himself any real relationships with anyone for Lord knows how long. Certainly not in the time I've known him. Whatever he was feeling came across as anger, though, I know he **was** also feeling anger. Can you blame him? He finally starts opening his heart and allowing himself to feel something more than wrath, and this is what happens.

As Oliver sat to write the Mudge's check, I slipped out of the room to go help Annie. When I arrived, she was already going through her clothes. I started to ask if she wanted help, but I felt my voice shake and stopped short. Getting enough of what I said, she nodded and continued sorting her belongings. As she did this, I went to the closet and got more clothes. Completely was lost in thought, I kept thinking about how much I was going to miss her, what her life was going to be like, what would become of Oliver and I's relationship or whatever we had going on the past couple days... I had a sad feeling that now Oliver would be even more distant than before. On the way back from another trip to the closet, my thoughts were interrupted when I glanced down at Annie. She asked me if the stores would take everything back. Caught off guard by the inquiry, I questioned for clarification, "All your new clothes?" She nodded in response, to which I then answered while turning back to the clothing I'd just set down, "Well I guess so, Annie, but don't you want to keep them?" I took one of the dresses of its hanger and began to fold it as I turned back once more to face her. "My new folks: they're poor; all these clothes are gonna make them feel bad…" she shrugged then added as her eyes widened and a grin appearing, "Could you maybe take them back to the orphanage and give them to my friends?" Feeling the tears forming in my eyes at such a big hearted request (and remembering why I'd so quickly come to adore the child), I simply replied, "certainly," and then quickly turned away. I listened as she went through a few items and naming what would look good on whom. I could tell she was holding up each article as she named it, but I just glanced quickly with a forced smile. I could only turn halfway and look from the corner of my eye, but I was still endeared. When she stopped talking, I turned back to sorting and folding the outfits. After a moment or two, she started singing on of her tunes.

"'_Betcha my life is gonna be swell—lookin' at them it's easy to tell."_

With this, I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. I was going to miss her so much. I turned to look at her, hoping she wouldn't notice my appearance.

"_And maybe I'll forget how nice he was to me; and how I was almost his baby…"_ she stopped short and paused a moment before looking down, seeming to be fighting back tears of her own. I watched a few seconds longer and then quickly dabbed my eyes while journeyed back to the closet. Once more, I needed to keep myself busy—even if that meant helping her pack and leave us. Now was when Annie appeared to notice my emotions. Standing up, she followed me to the closet. "Don't worry," she assured with a smile, "I'm going to like living in New Jersey." I didn't say anything; I just brushed her shoulder with my hand and quickly grabbed the last of the clothes. Again, she started to sing (in the same tune she'd sung before), _"I won't be far away; a small town ain't so bad. You'll take the ferry and visit me and my mom, and my dad."_ This time I knew she saw the tears run down my cheek. I kneeled down at her suitcase and set the dresses neatly inside.

She continued, _"In my own house, how happy I'll be—I'll bake you some cookies, I'll serve you some tea." _She finished by repeating a same line she sang previously,_ "'Betcha My life is gonna be swell, lookin' at them it's easy to tell…"_

I took another break to dry my eyes as she shut the suitcase. Then, wrapping her arms around me she muttered, "But I'm going to miss you too Miss Farrell." Still saying nothing, I returned the hug. After a moment or two, she looked up at me with misty eyes and timidly queried, "Will Mr. Warbucks remember me once I'm gone?" A bit shocked by the question, I answered, "Of course he will, Annie…what makes you ask such a thing?" Pulling away from me, she shrugged, "I don't know. He's just so busy and focused on his work; I guess I'm just afraid after a while he'll get distracted and won't think of me." Unsure of how to really respond, I plainly assured, "I won't let him forget about you, I promise."

A few minutes later, Oliver knocked on the door and said that the Mudg- I mean, Annie's parents were waiting to leave. Grabbing her bag, Annie walked over and stood in front of him. "Thank you for finding my parents, Mr. Warbucks, and for letting me stay with you, and… well for everything." Oliver crouched down and hugged her as tightly as he could after a brief second of silence. I was still amazed by how much he had grown in just a matter of days. If I had told him a week ago that he'd be here hugging a child he'd accuse me of being crazy. Heck, had I told him that a few days ago he'd have those same thoughts. _I just hope he doesn't go back to his olds ways… or worse. _I couldn't help but think yet again. The thought had crept its way in to my head several times since the search for Annie's parents began. _No_, I needed to stop thinking such selfish thoughts at a time like this. I'd deal with Oliver later; Annie would be gone in just a matter of minutes and I refused waste that time thinking about the grief tomorrow would most probably bring.


	3. Chapter 3

They said goodbye once more, and then I brought Annie downstairs while Oliver retired to his study. After a very long (yet at the same time much too short) walk to the door, I very sorrowfully watched as Annie started to leave with her parents. When they were almost out the door, Annie suddenly turned towards me, and then running back, she flung her arms around me. I welcomed the embrace and hugged her as tightly as Oliver had several minutes before. Quietly, she thanked me for recusing her from the orphanage and for being so kind to her right from the start. She then ran back to rejoin her parents. I waited until the door shut behind them and then quickly turned around to run up the stairs. Part of me wanted to run to Oliver—I could have used the comfort and I'm sure he could have as well—but another part of me just wanted to lock myself in my room and finally let out every emotion that I'd been holding in—or had attempted to hold in—all night. After a moment of contemplation, I found myself shifting towards Oliver. While I walked, I wondered what I'd say to him. I hadn't spoken to him about anything other than Annie for the past few days. Okay, maybe there was a business related comment here and there, but other than that, all Annie. Then I started to wonder what I'd say to him not only tonight, but ever, now that Annie was gone. Until she came along, Oliver never saw me as anyone but his secretary; at least, that's what it seemed. Never in the many years I've worked for him had he looked at me the same way he had throughout the past week.

My head was already in a full spin when yet another worrisome thought crossed my mind: what if everything between us had just been because of Annie? **Did **she say something to him? It was no secret that she wanted to see us together. If she was hinting and saying things like 'a man don't look at your brains' to me, she **had **to have said something to Oliver. That would explain why he said 'you might think Miss Farrell does all the work around here…' that afternoon before we all went to movies… What if I'd completely misread everything? Sure, he complimented me that morning in the garden and started calling me by my first name, but could it all have been for Annie's sake? _Oh, I must look like a complete fool!_

I was so lost in my thoughts that before I knew it I was standing outside the study door. It wasn't until I'd started turning the knob that I thought better of intruding. Annie leaving was just as hard for him as it was for me; maybe more. On top of that, this kind of sadness or emotion hadn't hit him for years—at least, he hadn't **let **those things hit him—perhaps he just needed time to himself. This was more than the loss of a factory; this was a precious child—one who had finally taught him how to love. I couldn't even begin to imagine how all of this was affecting him, and quite frankly, I was afraid to find out. I turned to go in the direction of my room, but paused to take a deep breath. I think another part of me was also afraid to figure out where our relationship stood. Now was not the time to figure things out between us; I couldn't lose two people in one night.

Right as I started walking away from the door, I heard Oliver sing the same tune Annie had sung earlier:

"_It'll be fine, nothing to fear—she'll be as happy as she was here. Things have worked out much better than planned. It makes you smile when fate takes a hand. And I know I'll forget how much she meant to me; and how she was almost my baby… maybe." _

I suppose he'd been standing outside the door earlier before he came in and told Annie that it was time to go. I thought again whether or not I should go see him, but once more thought better of it. Besides, the exhaustion from the day had officially caught up with me. I certainly didn't have one more drama or even a simple, friendly conversation left in me. Quickly, I started for my room, but my pace slowed immensely once I was a good distance away from the study.

I'd just reached my room when there was a sudden commotion downstairs. My first reaction, I'll admit, was a frustrated groan. _Can't whatever this is wait until tomorrow? _I wondered with tears forming in my eyes. There was just no way I could go back downstairs. Ignoring the noise, I started to shut my door, but then I realized that the commotion was coming from what sounded like little girls. _Annie… _That was my only thought before running downstairs as fast as my feet could carry me.


	4. Chapter 4

I arrived downstairs to see a group of orphans with Punjab (recognizing a couple of them from when I'd been to the orphanage). "What's going on?" I questioned. All the girls spoke at once with the exception of the littlest one who Punjab held in his arms; come to think of it, I didn't even bother to ask why. The only thing both Punjab and I could make out was that they wanted to speak to Oliver immediately. We (and the Asp had joined us by now) led the girls to the stairs and were greeted by Oliver who had heard the commotion from upstairs. "What now?" he grilled. The girls began to answer, saying that they were friends of Annie's, to which he informed them she was gone and that her parents had come to claim her... But before he'd even finished his sentence, the girls began to fuss, and cried, "Oh no!" It was still hard to make out what they were saying through their anxious chatter. "But they wasn't her parents, mister, they was bad people!" the youngest (who was still being held by Punjab) exclaimed. Straightaway, Oliver had me, Punjab, and the Asp begin calling people to alert them of the kidnapping, making sure every G-man on the East Coast was on the case.

Once the calls had been made, we all headed out to begin the search. Punjab and the Asp took the autocopter while Oliver and I took the Duisenberg. "Who's going to stay here with the children?" he asked soon before we left. I answered, "There's plenty of staff here: they'll be fine. Mrs. Greer and Mrs. Pugh agreed to keep an eye on them." Luckily, there was no further argument. In fact, he seemed sort of relived that I was coming along… but there was no time to think of that right now. We drove all around the city in the direction of New Jersey in hopes of finding Annie. The streets were filled with sirens—emergency vehicles were coming from every direction; it was almost surreal. I could feel the adrenaline pumping throughout my body (thank goodness for it too seeing as it gave me the energy I needed to stay calm and alert). After some time, Punjab informed us through the car phone that he spotted Annie and the Mudges (who turned out to be Miss Hannigan, her brother and his girlfriend) heading to the B&amp;O bridge. Somehow, I still managed to keep my composure when I heard this despite the fact my stomach had done a complete flip. It was all I could do to keep my mind from coming up with every terrifying scenario that could occur at such a location.

After what felt like hours, we arrived to see Annie just as she had climbed to the top of the upright bridge. The vice grip I had on Oliver's hand was the only thing keeping me from collapsing. If the thought of climbing Lord knows how high up wasn't bad enough, she had Miss Hannigan's brother, 'Rooster' following close behind. I wanted to believe that he was going to safely help her down, but I knew that was not the case. Climbing over the edge—hanging on for dear life—she cried for help. I couldn't take my eyes of the scene while her hands were being pried from their grasp over the edge. With her hands now in Rooster's clutch (dangling even more so over the edge) and then being dropped, I couldn't contain the sob that escaped me. Thank God she'd been able to catch hold of another part of the bridge. Oliver pulled me to the side of the tracks so the paramedics and police could get to their proper positions while we continued to watch helplessly.

Seeing Punjab overhead preparing a rescue was a relief. He tied his turban to the skids of the autocopter and started slowly climbing down in order to reach her. _I just hope he gets there in time… _I silently panicked. Feeling my composure slipping even more, I quickly buried my face into Oliver's shoulder before looking back up again. Not once did he take his eyes off Annie, however, he placed his free hand around the front of my arm. I couldn't tell if he was trying to comfort me or if he was trying to keep himself from buckling in fear. I was amazed by how calm he'd remained, but I knew that inside that he was a complete wreck.

From the moment Punjab grabbed Annie until the moment they were firmly on the ground, I don't remember having breathed. Once Annie was safe and sound in Oliver's arms, I flung my own around the both of them and cried before I smothered Punjab in kisses to thank him for rescuing her. After she was checked over by the paramedics, we took Annie home where she belonged. By the looks of things, she would be home for good this time. Miss Hannigan admitted that Annie's parents had died years ago and that was how she gained possession of the other half of the locket. I was absolutely appalled by this woman—more so now than I had been before—but Annie told us that she had tried to stop Rooster from hurting her… Maybe there was some good in her after all.


	5. Chapter 5

"Is she asleep?"

I jumped slightly, not having seen Oliver standing outside Annie's door when I entered the hallway. In response to his inquiry, I nodded, "Yes, it took some time though." Following with a question of my own, I continued, "How did things go with the police?" Weakly, he shrugged, "Fine, fine. Thankfully all they needed was a formal statement. I'll deal with the press tomorrow." The thought of more commotion brought on a whole new heap of exhaustion, but as long as Annie was home and safe, I'd be able to tough it out. "What a night, huh?" I breathed as we started walking down the hall. Drowsily, he ran a hand down his face, "You could say that." I couldn't help but chuckle.

In silence, he ended up walking me to my room (which I hadn't been fully aware of until we were standing outside my door). I wasn't quite sure what to say given the hour and the fact I was still in the midst of processing the day's events. Seeming to be at a loss for words himself, he quietly bid before he turned to leave, "Goodnight, Miss Farrell." Without thinking, I reacted with a frown, "What happened to Grace?" Taken aback by my question, he stammered, "Sorry. I uh… I guess I- well I guess it'll take some getting used to..." This was the moment when I realized that neither of us knew exactly where **we** stood. A bigger part of me wanted to wait until tomorrow, but that would mean having to figure when, where, and how to start the conversation whereas now it had basically begun. Mustering up every bit of courage I had, I walked towards him and began. "Oliver… these past couple of days have been quite… eventful. Not just with Annie, but I kind of thought that…" I started to lose my nerve, so I covered up my pause with a yawn: bad idea. "Grace, we can talk about this tomorrow. It's very late and I think the both of us could use some rest." I started to let him leave, but I knew that I would never sleep if this question remained unanswered. "No, please Oliver, I need too… what I mean is… Well, I kind of thought that there was something…" I tried thinking of which words would sound best, but my mind was completely blank. Deciding to simply keep it, well… simple, I finished, "That something was starting between us. You know, that other morning in the garden? Maybe I just filled my head with silly ideas…" Blushing, I turned my head away. Taking a step closer, he then took my hand. "They're not silly ideas, Grace. I think they're wonderful." I looked up to see him grinning widely. I grinned myself as I replied, "Really?" With a nod, he repeated, "Really. You know, now that Annie will be staying here permanently, and now that I'm going to be her father, she's going to need a mother. I can't think of a better person for the job than you." In disbelief of what I'd just heard, my eyes promptly filled with tears. I had so much I wanted to say, but nothing was coming out. I was just so happy that I hadn't only imagined everything. I was excited for what the future had in store… but I was also a bit confused. Was he proposing? Or was he merely suggesting we explore the idea? Luckily, he hadn't given me much time to bombard him with any of the thoughts going through my mind. "Good heavens," he corrected. "I think I might be getting ahead of myself… I mean, it's not that I don't- what I meant by that was…" Finally able to collect my scattered thoughts, I placed my hand on his cheek and then gently kissed his lips for several moments before concluding, "We should take it slow... for now." Seeming relived by my words, he smiled as I added, "Or at least until Annie's settled and the adoption is final." Once more, he took my hand, this time kissing it. "I can't thank you enough for bringing her here… and for everything after. Convincing me to let her stay, convincing me to adopt her… everything." I continued to grin, "Oh, you don't need to thank me. I'm just glad… well; I'm very pleased with how everything turned out for everyone. Though, I feel so sad for Annie; you know, about finding out that her real parents have passed away." Suddenly remembering, Oliver agreed, "Oh yes… do you think she'll be alright?"

"She's a strong little girl, she'll make peace with it, I'm sure." I then yawned again—for real now—and Oliver repeated what he had suggested several minutes before, "I think it's time both of us get some rest." This time, I nodded in agreement, "Yes, I think that would be good." Our eyes locked a moment before he concluded, "We can talk more tomorrow." Tiredness must have been fogging my brain because I naively questioned, "Talk about what?"

"About the two of us." he answered. Suddenly feeling quite foolish because I'd failed to see that things were still somewhat of a vague matter, I blushed and nodded once more. "Oh yes, of course." Our eyes locked for another moment until we both turned to go our separate ways. Just as I was almost in my room with the door shutting behind me, I heard him call, "Grace?" Opening the door, I poked my head back into the hall. "Yes?" I queried. Without a word he walked back to me, pulled me into a tight embrace, and then kissed me as if he'd wanted to do nothing else since we'd been standing there. I happily kissed him back seeing as that was all **I **had wanted to do since we'd been standing there… well, longer than that, but you get the point. This moment marked a wonderful beginning for us and I wasn't about to be distracted by thinking of how long I'd awaited the start.


	6. Chapter 6

"Good morning."

"Good morning." I replied with a smile to match Oliver's.

"Good morning, Mr. Warbucks!" Annie cheered. By the grin on her face, no one would have guessed the events that took place merely hours before. I had intended on letting Annie sleep in seeing as she had been up half the night being checked over and questioned by the police, but she had been the one to wake **me **up. Not that I had really slept though… how could I? There were so many things running through my mind. First off, I was still processing Annie's kidnapping. Yes, she made it home alive and safe, but I simply could not forget what happened prior. Second; the party. Oliver suggested before leaving my door last night that he wanted to have an adoption party for Annie. Seeing as next week was the Fourth of July, I suggested we have it then rather than today (his initial idea). Loving the thought, he agreed (I was thankful because this also gave me a few more days to prepare). Lastly, I couldn't stop thinking about Oliver… Particularly, the way he kissed me. I'll be honest and admit that there haven't been too many men in my life, but still, no one had ever kissed me quite like he had. Perhaps it felt as so due to the fact that for years, I'd secretly been in lov- um… Well I may have imagined myself with him once or twice… Anyways, I couldn't stop thinking about him and what the future had in store for us.

I guess I'd ended up staring at Oliver as I was once again lost in my thoughts because they were interrupted when Annie giggled a question. "Why are you to looking at each other so funny?" I snapped out of my daze and searched for a reply, but Oliver beat me to it. "Oh, no reason." With this I gathered that things were to remain silent until further notice. _Gosh, listen to me; I'm making this sound like a business deal. _Obviously, some adjustments to my thinking had to be made.

Aside from spending time with Annie and getting her adoption finalized, the entire day was dedicated to planning her party. Initially, it was intended to be a surprise, but it's quite difficult to keep a secret like this from a curious 10-year-old girl. I'd been on the phone looking for a circus act when she found out. I hadn't heard her come up behind me and she was silent until I turned around. Now, naturally, I could add keeping Annie calm to my to-do list.

The long day came to an end around 8 o'clock. "I think that's enough for today, Grace." Oliver said to my relief. He'd been busy with his usual work while at my attention was more on the party. "Works for me." I chuckled. "I guess it's just about time to get Annie to bed." I realized as I joined him on the other side of the room. "Ah yes." he replied. "I still need to get used to having a child around."

"So do I." I agreed, and then with a grin I finished, "though I think I'm already adjusting quickly." He simply smiled as he took my hand and led me out of the office.

We walked quietly down the hall to tend to Annie. There had been something I'd wanted to speak to him about all day, but there was never a chance. Although, in all honesty, **had **I had a moment alone (or an undistracted moment rather) with him, I wouldn't have been able to do much talking. Throughout the day we kept catching each other's eye; each look was filled with promise for the moment we **were **alone. _Perhaps, _I thought. _Before I get too tangled up in this fantasy, I __**should **__talk to him… _"Oliver?" I started timidly.

"Yes?" he replied.

"You know earlier when Annie asked why we were looking at each other funny and you said it was nothing?" He nodded and I continued, "Well, I gathered by your response that we were keeping…**this**… a secret. Are we?"

"Well, I-uh. I think i-it's best for right now… don't you think?" he stuttered, nervously fixing his tie.

"What do you mean?" I probed.

He grew more uncomfortable as he answered, "Well… Annie's adoption was just finalized today, we have a party being planned for next week to celebrate… it's all so… new. I-I just thought that maybe this all may be going too fast for Annie. I mean, good Heavens, she went from an orphan, to a hope of finding her parents, to being kidnaped, to finding out her real parents have passed away, to being adopted into a whole new world and lifestyle in a mere week."

I saw his point… and he was right. Everything certainly was changing fast for that little girl (and for us too…). Now that things seemed to be slowing down a bit by finalizing the adoption, it was best to let her enjoy the celebration without stealing her thunder with the news of me and Oliver (even though she would be completely thrilled). I just hoped my constant gazing at him wouldn't get us—mainly me—into trouble. It certainly wasn't going to be easy to keep myself under control. Can you blame me though? I've kept my feelings for Oliver a secret for the five years I've worked for him. Now I'm finally able to admit and express them to him. Keeping it a secret would be rather difficult. I don't know why he'd trust me with another secret anyways; he saw how well I kept the party from Annie!

After we tucked Annie in and left her room, we started walking down the hallway again (with no destination in particular). There was a silence between us once more. I was just about to say something—anything—to start a conversation when out of nowhere I felt him wrap his arm firmly around my waist and pulled me closer her him. Leaning against the nearest wall, he looked at me with a devious grin. There had been a lot of changes to Oliver's personality over the past several days. The sweet, gentle, and loving sides I'd always known were there deep down were finally showing. However, this 'playful' side I had never expected. However, I wasn't about to complain. I'm pretty sure I matched his smile with one of my own as he began to kiss me. Eagerly, I kissed back as I had envisioned myself doing all day long. I still couldn't believe that this was all really happening. The fact that **Oliver Warbucks** shared my feelings was an absolute dream come true. (And I owe all my thanks to Annie. Had she never entered our lives I don't think he would have ever seen me as anything but his secretary.)

I don't know how long we lasted there, but I do know that we were interrupted all too soon by the sound of footsteps starting to come from around the corner. Very quickly, I pulled away—much to Oliver's annoyance. Clearly, he hadn't heard the same noise I had. "Oliver, someone's coming." I warned in a whisper. He listened a moment, and then was very aware of the impending interruption. In a bit of a panic, he looked around for somewhere we could hide. He spotted a near door which happened to be behind me. He spun me around while opening the door with his free hand and muttered, "In here." I obeyed, but apparently not fast enough. All of a sudden Oliver pushed me into what turned out to be a closet and fiercely shut the door behind me. I went back for the doorknob, but I heard Punjab greet Oliver, "Sahib."

Oliver must have been leaning against the door because his voice was much more audible as he nervously stammered, "Ah Punjab… what um… what brings you around here at this time of night?"

There was a bit of a pause before Punjab answered, "I am securing the halls as always, Sahib."

"Ah yes…"

There was another pause before Punjab spoke again, "There must be a reason you are hanging around closet doors." Funny how Punjab rarely asked an outright question.

"Oh… I was, um. Just looking for… Sandy."

_Sandy!? _I thought.

Punjab obviously had a similar thought. It was hinted in his tone when he said, "Sandy is with Miss Annie as always."

"Oh good, then I can stop looking. Thank you Punjab. Goodnight."

"I will walk you to your room, Sahib."

"That's quite alright, I can get there myself."

"I would feel better if you let me escort you. I got word from the Asp that there was some suspicious activity from the Bolsheviks earlier today."

At this news, I felt a pang in my stomach. With all the fuss around Annie I had almost forgotten that Oliver was a target. I couldn't stand the thought of someone wanting to kill him—or worse, the thought of him **actually **being killed.

"Oh… um, alright then."

I knew he had no choice other than to go with Punjab if we wanted to keep our… I guess it was a relationship… a secret. It was funny to think of Oliver in that way. This goes back to everything happening so quickly. Not that I had a problem with the changes; no, certainly not. But, I really could see why keeping us a secret—for now—was a good idea.

I listened carefully to judge if Oliver and Punjab were out of sight. When I figured it was safe, I turned the closet's doorknob. Only, it wouldn't budge. "Oh no." I said allowed as I tried turning it harder. _He must have locked it when he was leaning against the door! _


	7. Chapter 7

There wasn't any way for me to keep track of how many minutes had gone by, but it sure felt like hours. The closet was hot and stuffy, it was dark and I couldn't find a light, and it was cramped. It wouldn't have been so bad had I known if Oliver was coming back for me. I wanted to bang on the door until someone heard me and let me out, but seeing as Annie's room was close by, I didn't want to startle or wake her with the noise. Obviously though, if I was trapped for too long, I'd have to knock before I ran out of air.

Finally, I heard footsteps. I didn't care who it was, I wanted to get out of there. Lightly, I knocked on the door in attempts to get whomever it was' attention. Much to my dismay, the footsteps rushed right past me. Leaning my head against the door I let out a frustrated moan. And then, not too long after the footsteps had passed, I heard them come back from the direction they had gone. This time, I pounded the door. If Annie woke up I'd just have to help her back to sleep. The walking stopped in front of me. _What a relief! _I thought.

"Grace?"

It was Oliver. Instead of responding, I crossed my arms and waited for him to open the door. After a few seconds, he did just that—and he was greeted by a glare from me.

"Grace, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to push you… I just… panicked. I wouldn't have left you either, but… I mean- oh forget it. What if I buy you a nice gift tomorrow to make it up to you?"

I finally broke my glare and my pose. "Oh no, you're not getting away with this that easily." I grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the closet with me (making sure the door didn't shut all the way). This time, I was the one to pull him against the wall as I kissed him mercilessly. Apparently Oliver wasn't the only one with a newfound devious and playful side.

We remained together in the closet for several more minutes. Why hadn't we thought of it before? If someone were to walk by we'd already be hidden. If we heard someone coming all we had to do was still ourselves. Okay, it wouldn't have been so simple. I was far more focused on Oliver than I was on any outside noises. I'll be honest and admit that I was shocked at just how comfortable I was with him. Shouldn't it have taken me some time to get past my role as only his secretary? There I was fervently kissing my boss and I wasn't the least bit phased. Thankfully, Oliver didn't show any signs of discomfort either.

I hated to, but I finally had to force myself to pull away from the embrace. "Oliver, it's getting rather late. We've still got a full and busy week ahead of us. We both need our rest.

Oliver sighed as he rested his forehead against my own. "Yes, I suppose you're right." Then with a smile, he proposed, "Meet me here same time tomorrow?"

"Are you saying that the only time we'll spend together outside of work is in a stuffy old closet?" I reacted lightly. It wasn't very ideal, but it was better than nothing… _I suppose_.

"Oh, certainly not. I fully intend to steal you away whenever there is an opportunity." There was that sly grin again.

"Well then, I will make it a point to do the same." Maybe sneaking around wouldn't be so bad after all. In this light, it almost seemed fun.

But as we exited the closet, my last thought had been contradicted. When Oliver shut the door he revealed Punjab standing guard is if it were any other room of the house. Both Oliver and I gasped, but Oliver was the one who spoke. "Punjab! How did… I mean, what brought you back here?"

"You walked right past me when you left your room, so I followed." he answered in his typical monotone.

Oliver said nothing else. Instead, he shot Punjab a very irritated glare to which he responded by defending, "Just doing my job, Sahib."

Oliver couldn't argue his point.

An awkward silence came over us all. To break it, I asked, trying to hide the embarrassment in my voice, "How, um, long have you been here?"

"A few minutes."

"Oh…" I looked away.

After another quiet moment went by, Punjab softly smiled at me and Oliver and assured, "I will not tell a soul."

Relieved, Oliver plainly responded, "Thank you."

I added, "We just don't want to announce anything until after Annie's party."

"I understand." he nodded.

"Well," I then said, "I'm going to head off to bed." Discreetly brushing Oliver's hand, I smiled; "Goodnight Oliver;" and then I turned to Punjab and nodded, "goodnight Punjab."

Oliver and Punjab said goodnight to me at the same time as they began walking in the other direction down the hallway. When I was safe in my room, I let out a deep sigh. Embarrassment was still burning my cheeks. I knew that this secret wasn't going to be easy to keep, but I hadn't expected it to come out so soon—even if it was only Punjab who knew. I supposed out of everybody in the house to find us, Punjab was the best person. I knew that he would stay true to his word about keeping our secret. Who knows? Maybe his knowing would be a good thing. He could help cover us if we needed it. Clearly, we needed practice hiding.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Oliver and I stuck to our goal of finding time together. It didn't take long for us to get into a sort of rhythm—and we weren't caught! Although, we had come close… It was rather comical actually. Oliver had just gotten off the phone with Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Annie insisted he attend her party) and we noted that nobody was around. I'd been typing at my desk, so I quickly stood up and skipped over to him. I sat on the edge of his desk and, of course, we kissed. We'd only been there a minute or so when Drake's customary knock sounded at the door. He didn't usually wait for an answer; the knock plainly announced his arrival. Knowing this, Oliver ducked under the desk while I whirled around to greet Drake who had by now entered the room. If he noticed Oliver, he hadn't said anything.

He handed me a pile of letters. "Today's mail, Miss Farrell."

"Thank you, Drake." I said as I took the envelopes and pretended to start flipping through and reading them.

Drake turned to leave, but then turned back around to inform, "Lunch will be served in half an hour."

I thanked him again and he left. I waited a few seconds to be sure he wouldn't be coming back, and then I tossed the mail on the desk and looked down at Oliver. Offering my hand to help him up, I said, "That was close."

Taking my hand, he pulled himself up and agreed. Then, after quickly kissing my cheek, he let out a hint of a sigh, "Perhaps we should get some more work done before lunch."

I nodded despite my disappointment that our time hadn't lasted long. I turned to go back to typing, but Oliver caught my hand. "Oh, I almost forgot…" I stopped as he pulled out a velvet box from his pocket. "This is to make up for last night." he said as he handed me the item.

I looked at him a moment before I remembered what he had said about getting me a gift. "Oh Oliver, that's so sweet of you…but you really didn't have to get me anything. Looking back now, it was actually kind of funny."

"I know I don't have to." He gestured for me to open the box. I obeyed, but hesitantly. Slowly I took off the cover and looked inside to see a beautiful necklace: three stands of pearls. "They're beautiful…" I breathed.

"So you like it?"

"I love it!" I set the box down and hugged him tightly. Still holding on to him, I said again, "You really didn't have to get me anything though."

Pulling back a bit, he gave me a quick peck and said, "Get used to it, my dear. I'm going to love showering you with gifts."

Knowing that I'd be fighting a losing battle if I kept denying gifts, I just laughed and concluded, "Oliver Warbucks, you're too much."

* * *

After dinner, we spent some time with Annie before Oliver had to get back to work. Seeing as I'd taken care of most of my duties for the day (which included a majority of party planning), I decided to take Annie shopping for a party dress. We went to a few stores and eventually, she ended up picking out a red dress with white lace trim. I even ended up finding an elegant pink one for myself.

"Mr. Warbucks outta notice you for sure when he sees you in that dress!" Annie said with a mischievous grin. I just laughed as I thought, _if only she knew._

During the search for her parents, Annie's hinting for Oliver and I to get together had stopped, but now that she knew she was here to stay she made us her new focus. On the car ride home, Annie kept chattering away.

"You know somethin' Miss Farrell? Ever since you've started wearing your hair more loose Mr. Warbucks has looked at you different."

I glanced at her and smiled, "Oh, really?"

"Mhmm. I know he likes you. He's just shy, that's all. But I bet if you wore it all the way down he wouldn't be."

If I had thought for a minute that Annie was capable of keeping this sort of secret, I think I would have told her truth right then and there. But I just couldn't. Besides, Annie was the whole reason for the secret in the first place. Alright, so maybe there were a couple of other reasons as well.

After a moment, I finally spoke. "Annie, I know you want to see Oliver and I together, but right now let's just focus on the fun evening we've just had, okay?"

"Alright…" she nodded as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. She rested her head against me for a moment, but then looked up. "At least you call each other by your first names now. That's a start."

Humoring her, I responded, "Yes, I suppose it is."

The minute we arrived home, Annie ran off to find Oliver. She couldn't wait to tell him all about our outing. She'd ran way ahead of me, so by the time I entered the room, Annie was propped up on Oliver's knee as she was saying, "Next time you should come too. We had a lot of fun. We even got ice cream after we went to the stores!"

"It's a shame I missed it." he said with genuine disappointment. This change in Oliver continued to amaze me. The picture I saw in front of me was still utterly shocking knowing well the infamous image of the coldhearted Warbucks. He was so loving and gentle towards this child. He looked like a real father—well, I suppose he was now, though, Annie hadn't started addressing him in that way quite yet. When I asked Oliver why he hadn't corrected her he said that he didn't want to force her into anything. She'd still only recently learned the fate of her real parents, calling somebody else 'dad' might take some time. I don't know if he'd said anything more, I was in a daze by that point.

Anyways, seeing Oliver and Annie chatting and smiling together warmed my heart. Oh how I was so tempted to join the picture, but I remembered my 'place' and walked over to my desk instead and pretended to work while Annie continued to talk about her evening.

"And just wait until you see Miss Farrell's dress!" She smiled the same grin she had earlier, and then glanced back over to me with a raise eyebrow. I pretended not to notice. It was Oliver's turn for these sorts of hints. From the corner of my eye, I saw him struggling with a reply causing me to hide my own grin with my hand. Finally, he settled on a response and said, "I'm sure it's lovely." with no particular enthusiasm to his voice.

"Oh boy is it! You'll love it, Mr. Warbucks. You really, really will."

Oliver then picked Annie up off is lap and stood up, taking her hand. "I think it's nearly your bedtime, isn't it?"

"I'm not tired." she replied.

"That's because Grace let you eat all that ice cream and sugar."

Now looking up, my eyes met his which were in a teasing glare. I shrugged, "Hey, it's called a 'treat' for a reason."


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for a delay in getting this chapter up. The new year has started off very hectically and writing wasn't able to be my first priority. Thank you all for continued reviews and support!**

* * *

Eventually, Annie's sugar crash set in and Oliver and I were able to get her to bed. After we left her room, Oliver took my hand and quickly started leading me the short distance down the hallway to the closet. Once I realized the destination, I pulled back. "Wait a minute, Oliver…"

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"Isn't there somewhere else we can go? Don't get me wrong, it was a bit fun last night, but isn't there a more comfortable place to go?

He was quiet a moment, and then he started pulling me in the other direction.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"The library. No one will be in there at this hour. It's quiet, and we don't have to worry about being locked in." he finished with a wink.

I smiled, "Sounds good to me."

Once we arrived at the library, we snuggled up together on the sofa by a window. _This is more like it, _I thought. Sneaking around was one thing, but having our rendezvouses in closets was another. Call me crazy, but sitting on a couch was far more comfortable than dodging mops and buckets.

Now more than ever I adored being near him. Not just romantically; simply being in the same room with him made me happy. Why? Well the answer is simple now, but beforehand it wasn't so obvious. I could go on and on about how there was 'just something about him', but all that mattered now was the present and what our future together held. However, there had been something somewhat related to the past that had been sort of 'bothering' me (for lack of a better word) the past couple of days… Whenever we were alone, all we did was flirt. We hardly really spoke. And when we did speak it was either about Annie, work, or us. Our budding relationship couldn't very well be centered around those things. Not that I had a problem with the hugging and the kissing—not in the slightest—but how long would that last if we didn't truly know each other?

I'd been racking my brain trying to figure out how to bring up conversation, but the issue was resolved when I found myself randomly asking in between kisses, "What was your childhood like?"

"What do you mean?" he asked with a funny expression.

"I mean just what I said. What was your childhood like? Happy? Sad? So-so? I've been thinking and… well it occurred to me that I only really know about the past 5 years of your life. Anything before that is mostly business related. I want to get to know you beyond work. I figure the best place to start is from the beginning."

"You're absolutely right. Now that you mention it, I don't know all that much about you either. At least not—as you said—aside from business. Do you have any siblings?"

"No," I answered. "I'm an only child."

"What are your parents like?"

"My father is great. Though, he wasn't around much as I was growing up. He was always working."

At the sound of business, Oliver's eyes lit up. "Oh? What does he do for a living?"

"He worked in various factories when I was a child. Money didn't always come easily for our family. When I was a teenager he got a second job at a shop that was down the street from our house. He gave the factory work up a couple years ago, but he still works in the store."

"What about your mother?"

Looking down, I quietly answered, "She, unfortunately, passed away."

"Oh Grace, I'm so sorry. How long ago was this?" he questioned with sympathy in his voice.

"Not long before I came to work for you actually." I admitted.

In shock, his eyes widened, "Really? How come you never mentioned it?"

Unsure of how to respond, I took a moment before I answered. "Well…" I finally began. "It wouldn't have been very proper for me to bring it up out of the blue. Especially since I'd only just started working for you. Besides… I don't really like to talk about her. I miss her very much."

"She must have been a wonderful mother."

"She was…" I stopped a moment as I felt tears stinging my eyes. I quickly recovered though and then I wondered aloud, "What makes you say that?"

"I just assumed," he started. "You're so wonderful with Annie; you had to have learned it somewhere."

Smiling at the compliment, I said, "Thank you." I then realized that we had gotten far away from my initial inquiry. "You never answered my question." I reminded.

"What question?" he answered nonchalantly.

"**What was your childhood like**?"

"Oh… right." he said quietly as he looked away.

"Is something the matter?"

"No… I just haven't talked about that time in my life for a long time. Well, I mentioned a bit of it to Annie, but I didn't elaborate on anything. I'd like to say I haven't thought about it either, but recently I have."

By the look of pain in his eyes, I figured growing up hadn't been easy for him. I guessed as much ever since I met him anyways; nobody is born with a closed heart. I didn't want to push him, but I had a nagging curiosity. More importantly, I wanted him to know that he could trust me with anything. "Can you tell me what you told Annie?"

"Well," he breathed. "I guess it's only fair."

He told me about how poor his family was when he was young. He also told me how they couldn't afford medicine when his little brother was sick which caused his death. When he got to that part, I could see him fighting back tears. Or more like he was trying to stop tears from building up in the first place. This all explained why he was so reluctant to letting Annie into his life. It also explained his reaction when Annie was taken. It had to have brought back bitter memories of losing his brother.

Next, he mentioned leaving home at age 12 to work as a cabin boy on a ship. I couldn't believe it. 12? I always figured that he had started working early on in his life, but not **that** early. For heaven's sake, 12 wasn't much older than Annie! He was still a child. But I suppose it paid off in the long run… financially anyways.

Something told me that there was more to the story than he was letting on. For example, he hardly mentioned his parents. Were they good to him? I had to wonder given he'd left home so young. Or did he not have a choice other than to start work? Were they the best parents in the world? Was that the problem? Did it hurt too much to think about them? Despite those many questions I had running through my mind, I kept quiet. He was clearly uncomfortable with how far the discussion had gone. Instead, I changed the subject. However, I did stay with the theme of getting to know each other better. I asked him questions like what was his favorite color, book, movie, radio program… things like that. It didn't take him long to ask me similar questions. _Maybe I should've started with these rather than jumping into the deeper subjects…_

I don't know how long we spoke, but eventually we ended up falling asleep. I hadn't realized this until he woke me up shortly after 6 the next morning.

"Grace… Grace dear, wake up."

I opened my eyes and saw him smiling down at me. My head was resting on his shoulder and he was gently stroking my hair. "Good morning." I grinned. I shut my eyes for a moment as I nestled closer to him. Not long after, unfortunately, it occurred to me where we were. "Oh my gosh." I shot up. "We have to get out of here. At least half the staff is probably up by now."

"You're right." he said with an obvious disappointment in his voice.

We both stood up and looked at each other a moment. I can't speak for him, but I wasn't quite sure what to say. After all, I was still just waking up. Not to mention the fact that this was the first time we'd ever fallen asleep together.

Thankfully, he ended up saying, "I'm glad we had some time together."

"So am I." I agreed, and then joked, "Aren't you glad I suggested we find a place other than the closet?"

With a hardy laugh, he nodded, "Yes!"

We didn't waste any more time in sneaking out of the library. I was fairly aware of everybody's routines, so I led us down the halls in a route that would least likely result with us to running into other people. Thankfully it **was **still early.


	10. Chapter 10

We passed Oliver's room first. Once he was 'safe' I made a mad dash towards mine. When I got there I was shocked to see the door ajar. I peeked in cautiously. It was rather early for any of the staff to be in there… I didn't see or hear anyone, so I opened the door wider. I saw Annie fast asleep on my bed. I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. "Annie?" she shifted, but she didn't seem to be awake. "Sweetheart," I said a bit louder. "Is everything all right?"

Her eyes slowly opened. Seemingly trying to remember where she was, she was quiet and she looked around the room. Finally, she glanced to the window then back at me and questioned drowsily, "What time is it?"

"Around 6:30." I estimated. Sitting down next to her, I asked. "What are you doing in here?"

With a look of guilt about her, she answered, "I had a bad dream and… Sandy didn't want to be alone."

At the mention of Sandy, I looked around puzzled. Without having to voice my question, Annie answered by pointing down to the floor. Surely enough when I looked I saw the dog's nose sticking out from underneath the bed. "What is he doing down there?"

"I didn't know if you'd want him in your bed or not."

"Oh, it's alright."

With that, Annie gave Sandy the okay signal and in almost an instant he joined us.

Realizing that I had failed to react to her statement about having a nightmare, I quickly went back to the matter. "What was your dream about?"

"I don't remember it all now… all I know is that I was taken away from you and Mr. Warbucks again."

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I'm especially sorry that I wasn't here for you when you woke up." I felt terrible. It mustn't have been very comforting to come and find me after such a dream only to discover that not only was I not there, but I didn't return all night.

"It's okay." she said. "I was a little nervous, but I calmed down and I figured you were working or something."

"Yes, I was." I lied.

"Are you just going to bed now?" she questioned with what sounded like concern in her voice.

Going along, I answered, "Yes. Well sort of. I ended up falling asleep in the office."

With a laugh, Annie replied, "I bet'cha Mr. Warbucks liked **that**."

Sharing her giggle, I shrugged, "I have no idea. He was gone by the time I woke up."

"Ooo, someone's gonna be in trouble!" she sang.

"Perhaps…" Feeling the need to change the subject, I stood up and suggested, "Now, why don't we get up and get ready for the day?"

With a nod she hopped down off of the bed. She started to dart towards the door, but I stopped her. "Annie, wait a minute."

Coming to an abrupt halt, she turned around in my direction. "Yeah?"

I walked over to her and hugged her tightly as I said, "I want you to know that I'm always here for you. If you ever wake up and I'm not around please come looking for me."

Hugging me back she replied, "It's okay, Miss Farrell. I'm feeling better now, really. I was only a dream."

"Still, I wish I could have been here to comfort you when you needed it."

"Don't worry, at the orphanage I always got over nightmares by myself. At least now I'm in a nice warm place and I can remember not to be so scared."

"And that is precisely why I feel so terrible." I said.

"I'm **really** okay now. If I have another one I'll find you." she assured.

I couldn't help but laugh at the way the tables seemed to have turned. "Please do." I smiled. "Alright, now you may go get dressed." Matching my grin with one of her own, she energetically ran out of the room with Sandy following close behind.

* * *

It didn't take me very long to get ready for the day. I was downstairs for breakfast within 20 minutes. Annie, of course with her never ending supply of energy was already sitting at the table and starting on her breakfast when I arrived. Oliver looked as if he had just arrived himself seeing as he was still just reading the front page of the paper. "Good morning." I greeted. Both Annie and Oliver said 'good morning' to mevas well and then went back to their food and paper.

While Drake placed my breakfast plate at my usual seat, I went over to the window where the coffee pot and juice pitcher were sitting on a table. "Annie, would you like some orange juice?" I offered.

"Yes, please."

I poured her drink and then set it in front of her. When I did, she looked up at me and then to Oliver with a smirk. _Uh oh… _I thought. However, I pretended not to notice and went back to the drink table to prepare myself a large cup of coffee. Again, I didn't know how long Oliver and I had been awake talking, but I was gathering that we were up for quite some time. I was exhausted. We couldn't have gotten more than 2-3 hours of sleep. Or, I guess I should say 'I'. After all, he obviously had woken up before me. I didn't have much time to ponder however because I heard Annie say to Oliver, "So Mr. Warbucks, are you mad at Miss Farrell?"

At this, I quickly looked up in Oliver's direction. He too looked up. With a very confused expression, he interrogated, "What on earth makes you think I would mad at her?"

With a giggle, Annie answered, "I know she fell asleep while you two were working last night. That's why she wasn't in her room all night. She told me herself when she came in this morning."

Oliver glanced at me. Since I was standing behind Annie's chair, I was able to signal for him to play along. He quickly caught on and said, "Oh… No I'm not mad at her. It's uh, my own fault. I kept her working far too late. I didn't want to disturb her rest so I went on to bed myself and let her be."

"Aw, that's sweet." Annie replied, her smirk still evident on her face. Trying to get away from the topic as I joined them at the table, I began, "So Annie, what do you want to do today? Oliver and I will have some work to do and of course continue the party planning."

"Can I help with the party?"

"Uh, sure. If you want too." I answered. "I don't know how much fun it will be though. Wouldn't you rather continue your tennis, swimming, and karate lessons?"

"Oh no, I wanna help. It's my party. I should at least do some of the work."

At the sentiment, Oliver and I looked at each other and shared and endeared smile. Oliver then chimed in, "It really isn't necessary, Annie. But if you want to help you are more than welcome."

Annie cheered and began scarfing down her food. I laughed, "Annie dear, slow down. If you eat that fast you won't feel like doing anything!"

After we **slowly** finished our breakfasts, we went straight to work. Oliver had routine business calls to make, so Annie and I began working on the invitations. It was rather fun actually. I showed her samples of papers and ribbons and she chose which of each she liked best. We then double checked the list to make sure we hadn't forgotten anyone.

"Could we invite Miss Hannigan?" she requested.

I was a bit taken aback by her words. "If you want to… but may I ask why?"

"Because she tried to stop her brother from killing me. I mean, I suppose I wouldn't've been taken in the first place if it hadn't been for her, but I don't know… I just want to thank her I guess."

I smiled genuinely and responded, "I think that's very noble of you."

Lunch time rolled around and we stopped to eat. It was a beautifully warm day so we decided to have a picnic out in the garden. Oliver initially wasn't going to join us, but Annie finally convinced him to take a break. I was glad to see him rest, he looked very tired himself. I didn't make a fuss over it though. I knew for a fact that I looked just as bad. I'm sure the six cups of coffee I'd consumed that morning didn't help with matters either.

After lunch Annie and I finished the invitations and then we decided to walk them to the post office ourselves. It was a bit of a hike, but it really was a lovely day. Besides, I loved spending time with Annie. She's such a delight to be around. I was so thrilled that she was here to stay. The thought of sending her back had plagued me since her first night. It wasn't easy when we all discovered that she was waiting for her real parents, and I will always feel guilty about how selfishly sad I felt about losing her. I shouldn't have let her see how upset I was. I should have shown her how happy I was to see her lifelong dream come true. Then of course there was the horror of seeing her hanging off of that bridge! But now-despite her real parents' fates-everything was perfect. Annie was here to stay (even though Oliver and I- I mean… Oliver. Oliver could never replace her parents, but we-he would be the best substitute there could be). _You may be with Oliver now, but that does not make you Annie's mother._

I was sad to see our little trip end when we arrived home in the early evening (aside from the fact my feet and legs were incredibly sore—heels are not the proper walking shoes). Before dinner I had to help Oliver with some dictations, so Annie went into the kitchen to see Mrs. Pugh. Not only did she enjoy helping the cook prepare the meals, but she also enjoyed relaying her day to her. It was rather sweet. And I knew Mrs. Pugh enjoyed the visits as well.

When I walked into the office, Oliver greeted me with a wide, yet tired smile from behind his desk. "Enjoy your walk?"

"I did, thank you." Walking over and then sitting in the chair across from him, I asked, "How were things around here?"

"Fine," he shrugged, "nothing very exciting. How about the party? Is it coming along well?"

"Oh yes, splendidly. Tomorrow starts the 'grueling' work, so to say. I think I'll encourage Annie to get back to her lessons. I don't believe she'll find much fun in menu planning, seating arrangements, and circus rehearsals."

Oliver chuckled, "Call me crazy, but I think she might enjoy the circus rehearsals."

Sharing his laugh, I agreed, "You're probably right. But other than that, I think she'll grow rather bored."

"You never know with Annie." he winked.

"That is very true." We shared another smile, and then I picked up my notebook and pen. "So… shall we begin?"


	11. Chapter 11

I'd been right about the next day's tasks being grueling—even more so than I'd expected. But I will explain that portion of my day later.

Fortunately, I was prepared for the tiring day and I went to bed early the night before. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble sleeping. To say I spent a greater portion of the night tossing and turning would be an understatement. Exhaustion notwithstanding, I just couldn't fall asleep. A few times I even got up and jumped around my room hoping I'd burn off any remaining energy. When that failed to do anything but irritate my already sore feet, I went down to the kitchen for a warm glass of milk. My mother used to bring me a glass whenever I couldn't sleep or if I had a bad dream. I didn't care for the taste at all, but it used to help. Though, that was probably more because my mother would stay with me until I fell asleep. Sadly, she wasn't here to lull me anymore.

Warm milk wasn't the solution either. Now I was missing mom on top of whatever else was keeping me awake. It probably wouldn't have hit me so strongly if I hadn't mentioned her to Oliver the night before. Even though I had barely said anything about her, she still made her presence in my mind. Oh, I wanted to tell him all about her, but it just didn't seem like a good time. Alright, maybe it would have been a good time, but I emotionally couldn't handle the conversation. I was still recovering from the past week. Besides, I didn't want to taint any of the time we had together with tears.

Suddenly, my restlessness all made sense. I missed Oliver. Other than our very brief morning together and work, we hadn't spent any time alone. Had I really gotten used to our nightly get togethers so quickly? Apparently.

Now that I'd addressed the problem, I tried to figure out what to do about it. It was far too late to go looking for him. If I were to go to his room and wake him up my intentions could have been very easily taken the wrong way. Anyways, he needed rest just as much as I did. It wouldn't have been fair to disturb him.

Thankfully, thoughts of Oliver pushed the negative ones of my mother out of my mind. I felt a bit more relaxed. I was able to lie still and close my eyes as I let my mind wander. _I can't believe we went the entire day without finding a moment alone. I didn't even think about it I was so preoccupied. Okay, I suppose I did think about it when we were alone before dinner… but he had said the memos he needed me to take were urgent, and we weren't going to have much time to get to them after dinner. At least I still got a kiss goodnight—a very loving kiss… Oh no. I'm not even going to begin down that road. Those thoughts will guarantee that there will be no sleep tonight. _

_I hope he isn't feeling awkward about last night and this morning. We woke up and had to get going so quickly. Nothing had time to sink in. Once the day got started he didn't even acknowledge that it'd happened. Granted I didn't either, but again, I was preoccupied with other things. Oh, I sound so silly. We harmlessly fell asleep together in the library. That's all. You're just looking for more reasons to stay awake, Grace. Now… think of calm and happy things…_

The last trick finally worked and I managed to get an extra hour or two of sleep in than I had the previous night. Still not a lot, but at least I slept.

My day started off with a dog jumping on my bed, followed by a little girl. I loved how Annie woke me up in the morning, but at the same time I would have loved to have slept for at least a half hour longer. No matter, I had enough work cut out for me that day. An early start would be for the better. I sent Annie to her room to get dressed, telling her to put on her tennis uniform because she had her lesson with Don Budge at 9:30. Thankfully she seemed excited. I was dreading a struggle with her wanting to help with the party plans. Not that it would have been terrible to have her around; I just couldn't see her enjoying herself. With her energy level, quietly following me around or quietly sitting during meetings was liable to have a negative outcome by bedtime (negative for me and Oliver that is).

When I arrived to the dining room, I didn't see Annie in her seat. _Funny, she usually beats me to the table. _I also noted that there was nobody else around besides Oliver, so I took the opportunity to greet him properly. I quietly walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his chest as I said, "Good morning." I thought my gesture would be welcomed, but instead as I went to kiss his cheek, he pulled my arms off and away from him and pushed me to the side. The force of his actions caused me to stumble.

My eyes were wide with shock. "What's the-" Before I could finish the sentence, Annie shot up from underneath the table. "Good morning!" she beamed.

"Oh, Annie! Good morning…"

"Did I scare ya Miss Farrell?" Obviously she had noticed my jolt when she'd made her presence known to me.

"Actually, yes… you did surprise me." I answered, trying to catch my breath.

"Sorry 'bout that. I dropped my fork." As if on cue, she went to continue using the aforementioned fork.

"Don't use that after it's been on the floor, dear. It's dirty. Here, I'll go to the kitchen and get you another one."

She started to respond, but I was out of the room before I could make sense of what she was saying. I needed a minute alone to gather myself. Perhaps I was more embarrassed by the event than I should have been, but I'd just looked like a fool in front of Oliver. As I treaded to the kitchen I mumbled to myself, "I will be so happy when this secret is out."

Through breakfast, I avoided eye contact with Oliver as much as I could. Lucky for me he was engrossed by a story in the paper. By the lack of scoffs coming from him as he flipped through the pages, I could tell that the articles on Annie's kidnapping were slowly beginning to die down. Oh the newspapers had a field day with the story. The pictures were horrifying. When I first saw them it took everything thing I had not to start sobbing. It just confirmed to me that the whole scenario wasn't just a nightmare. Oliver was bothered by them as well. We agreed to keep them from Annie, but one day in the office they caught her eye when we weren't paying attention. She took them well however. In fact, she loved it. I remember her taking the picture of her on the bridge to the entire staff and saying. "See how high up I was? I climbed up there all by myself! I outsmarted the bad guys and took their precious check away from them. Even though Miss Hannigan's brother was pulling my fingers from my grip on the side, I hung on tight. There was no way I was lettin' him beat me. Oh yeah, I was scared outta my mind, but I did it! When Punjab saved me I didn't think I could hold on to him. My arms felt like something I'd put on toast. But he told me to have courage and I did. Boy did I ever!" Even though Oliver and I were relieved that the pictures didn't upset her, we couldn't help but wonder if she was putting on a brave face. It wouldn't surprise me. I'm sure it's her way of survival. Lord knows she had to do something to stay alive in that orphanage.

Anyways, the Warbucks household had kept pretty quiet the past few days. Not just in regards to the kidnapping, but to everything thing else as well. We needed a break from the press. However, they had apparently caught wind of the party because I could see a snippet about it while Oliver was reading another article. But other than that, they lost interest—for now. It wouldn't be long until they came looking for more gossip.

After breakfast, I cleared everyone's plates. I wanted to keep busy until Oliver was in the office. That way when I arrived he'd be busy with something and I could either go about my own business or jump into whatever he needed me to do. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought my 'keep busy' plan through very well. It was rather odd for me to clear the dishes while Drake was standing right there. I think I actually took one of them out of his hands. I didn't realize the strangeness of my actions until I brought the used plates and glasses into the kitchen. Mrs. Pugh greeted me with a puzzled look and probed, "Miss Farrell, is something the matter?"

"No, why do you ask?" I replied obliviously.

"Because this is the second time you've been in here this morning doing Drake's job."

I froze and that's when it hit me. "Oh… uh, well you know, he works so hard. I thought I'd help him out for once." I hastily set the dish tray down on the counter by the sink and then went back to the door. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I have a very busy day ahead of me. Take care."

When I got back to the dining room, both Annie and Oliver had left. I'll admit to peeking under the table to see if maybe Annie was setting up for another scare. I think she enjoyed my reaction a bit too much. I couldn't help but laugh though.

I was glad that Oliver wasn't around. I knew once I had some time to shake off the embarrassment I'd be fine. I think my problem was that I was still functioning as I had before Annie arrived. I was still shy admitting my feelings for him. Oh, I was comfortable when it was just he and I, but when other people were around I had to be professional. Somehow being professional made me truly shy with him. Sure, I could handle work related topics. I knew my place and what I should and shouldn't say. But when we're outside of the office? Like at breakfast for example: there's no task for me to keep focused on besides eating. I have to be aware of my manner towards him. Heaven knows that if I even look at Oliver a certain way it will spark Annie's pushing. Bless the child for her approval and desire to see us together, but it was tiring me. Last night when we put her to bed she was up to it again. She kept shifting and squirming away from us in such a way that caused Oliver and I to either bump into one another or put us in a very close proximity. I guess I should just be thankful that we had something going on between us. I don't think I could have handled it if I didn't know Oliver had any affection towards me. I can't say for sure (since I don't know what they talk about when they're alone), but I think I get the worst of Annie's 'hinting' (a much too weak a word). She knew for a fact that I liked Oliver. I don't think he ever let on about his feelings. So when she said things to me, it was in a way which suggested I should make the first move. I think what he gets are hints (real and reasonable hints) about me. As if she's trying to show him 'how great I am'. Goodness, this made my head spin.

After realizing I had just been standing in the middle of the dining room with a blank expression, I figured I'd better move before I brought any more attention to myself. Why is it that every time I want to stay under the radar I do something to make myself stand out?

I started in the direction of the office. My mind began switching to work mode as I walked. _Good, keep this up, _I kept telling myself. In my head I'd begun organizing my tasks and planned out in which order I'd tackle them. However, all of those thoughts flew out of my mind when I felt someone grab my arm. For the second time that morning I let out a startled gasp. When I turned around I saw Oliver, looking guilty for making me jump.

"Oh, it's you. Why aren't you working?" I asked.

"I need you to make a call for me. I waited figuring you weren't too far behind after going to the kitchen."

"I apologize. I-I don't know where my head is this morning."

Taking my hands, he questioned, "Grace, are you angry with me for… my reaction this morning?"

"Oh, certainly not." I answered.

"Then how come you've barely looked at me since? I'm terribly sorry, I know there was probably a better way to tell you Annie was in the room. I panicked."

Shaking my head, I corrected, "Please, you don't need to apologize. I might have overreacted. I'm really not angry. I was just embarrassed, that's all. Maybe I didn't need to be, but I was."

"You're still not looking me in the eye."

I was starting to miss the days where he was oblivious. Forcing myself to make eye contact, I said, "Okay, so maybe I'm still a bit embarrassed. There's more to it than just this morning."

"Oh?"

"Look, I don't really want to talk about it right now. I really should be getting to work."

"Can you just tell me if I've done anything to make you feel uncomfortable?"

"Oh Oliver, I promise it's nothing you've done. It's all coming from me." He looked unconvinced so I decided to admit with a sigh, "I missed you last night."

"You're embarrassed about missing me?"

"I know it doesn't make sense. And that alone doesn't make me feel… I can't really explain it. Gosh, I'm sure I'm sounding beyond silly."

With a smile, he assured, "Not in the slightest." He then wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me slightly closer to him and said in a low voice, "If it makes you feel better I missed you as well."

"To the point of losing sleep?" I blurted as I rested my hands on his shoulders.

Letting out a small chuckle, he nodded, "Actually, yes. Let's not do that again tonight. Or at least we have to find a pocket of time together in the daytime; perhaps during one of Annie's lessons and in between meetings. Even if we just go for a walk."

"Oh please, not another walk!" I groaned and looked down at my still aching feet.

After he finished laughing, he joked, "Alright, then how about a sit?"

I laughed myself as I crooned, "Much better."

His hands wrapped tighter around my waist as mine slithered up and around his neck. We were almost kissing when we were interrupted by Punjab. "Sahib, I must speak with you."

Oliver pulled away from me and turned around, not making any attempt to hide his annoyance. "Could this wait a moment?"

"No." he answered plainly.

"Well then, what is it?" he barked.

"I would like to speak with you alone."

The two men shared a strange look, and then Oliver turned back to me and said, "I'll have to see you at lunch." He quickly kissed my cheek before starting to follow his bodyguard.

"Wait a minute, where are you going? What's going on?" I interrogated as I caught hold of his arm.

Oliver smiled as he patted my arms and said, "There's nothing to worry about, my dear. I'll see you later." Before I had the chance to say anything else, he dipped me into a strong kiss before leaning me upright again several seconds later.

Even if he hadn't swiftly left with Punjab afterwards, I wouldn't have been able to speak. A moment or two later the stun wore of and I turned back in the direction I was initially headed. I must say, that kiss was the exact pick me up I needed. I was still curious as to what Oliver and Punjab were up to though…


	12. Chapter 12

Now on to my beyond hectic day…

Since Oliver never did get around to telling me whom he needed me to call, the first thing I did when I arrived to the office was look around for a note or memo saying so. After 5 minutes of searching I figured whoever it was would just have to wait. It obviously wasn't too urgent.

I wrote out a to-do list for myself to make sure I had everything in order. Once that was finished, it was time to call the caterer.

The call lasted longer than I had planned, but it went smoothly enough. The only thing that made it difficult was few of the guests' 'special' requests. I was surprised Oliver told me to oblige. Normally he would tell them to settle for what everyone else was eating (unless they were a mighty important guest that is). The caterer wasn't all too thrilled, but he didn't dare say no to such a powerful customer. Usually Mrs. Pugh and her staff would prepare the food for events at the house, but Annie wanted them all to be her guests. They were her friends too after all. I for one was happy to see them able to enjoy a party. They always worked so hard with preparations—and without extra pay!

Annie finished her tennis lesson around 10:30, which was just before I'd finished the call with the caterer. She had come in to the office still in her uniform and appeared to be waiting for me. I whispered to her that I'd be through soon and to change clothes in the meantime. She obeyed and came back about 10 minutes later. I could see the look of annoyance on her face when she returned to see the phone still in my hands, but she didn't make a fuss and sat at one of the typewriter desks. Luckily, I was off the phone only a few minutes later.

"How was your lesson?" I asked as I set the phone down.

Instantly perking up, she answered, "Great! I'm gettin' real good. I was able to hit the ball 4 times!"

"That's wonderful!" I'm smiled.

"I know I just changed, but do you wanna go play a game with me? You'll probably beat me still, but that's okay. I need to practice."

"Oh Annie, I wish I could, but I've just got too much to do today. I'm already falling behind. I'm sorry."

"Okay," she shrugged. She looked disappointed, but understanding at the same time. "Can I help with the party then?"

This was the part I was dreading. "I'm afraid there's nothing fun to do today. I have to make some more phone calls and then some people will be coming over here for meetings after lunch."

"What kind of meetings?"

"Mostly table arrangements, light placements, and circus rehearsals."

"Circus rehearsals?!"

I couldn't help but laugh at her zealous response. "Yes, those might interest you actually."

"Oh boy would they!" she cheered.

I crouched down to be face to face with her and proposed, "Tell you what, why don't you go play with Sandy until lunch, then we'll all eat together, and then we'll figure out what you can do until the circus arrives while I'm busy with the other meetings. I'll tell you when they get here so you can watch. Does that sound good?"

"Okay!" Immediately she ran off to find Sandy—so I assumed anyway. No matter, I had to get back to the phone.

* * *

Boy, how I wished I'd been the one to play with the dog.

I was late for lunch because I couldn't get off the phone with the band manager. Supposedly a lot of the members had already made plans for the 4th of July and weren't available, so I had to help scrounge up some other players. This certainly wasn't an easy last-minute task. When I saw the clock strike noon I was expecting a search party (a.k.a. Annie) to come looking for me. But when I looked out the window into the garden I saw Oliver and Annie laughing about something. I felt less guilty for being late, but I wished I could have been there laughing with them.

Thankfully, I didn't miss the entire meal. They were about halfway through when I arrived.

"Miss Farrell!" Annie greeted. "I didn't think you were gonna get here."

"I'm sorry, Annie. I got tied up on the phone."

Before taking a bite of his American cheese sandwich, Oliver asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," I nodded. "And with you?" I probed; eyeing him in a way that I hoped would indicate that I was curious about the conversation with Punjab that morning. To my chagrin, he just shrugged it off and said, "Fine."

Once he was finished eating, Oliver had to get back to work, but Annie stayed with me while I ate. She told me all about the great chase between Sandy and a squirrel—and then her and Sandy. It was a very funny story: to summarize, a squirrel met Sandy, and then probably went to inform all its friends to stay away from our yard the second it finally got away. I assumed that this was the story that she and Oliver had been laughing over when I peeked through the window. After that we got to talking and laughing even more at amusing stories that each of us had. It wasn't until 1:30 when I looked at my watch. "Oh no!" I reacted. "Look at how late it's gotten. The tables and chairs are due to arrive any minute." I hastily stood up. "Annie, I've got to get going. I talked to the circus and they should be arriving here around 3:00 if you want to come and see them. Will you be able to keep yourself amused until then?"

"Yeah, I can't wait!"

I thought the circus rehearsals would be a good way to ease into bringing the day to an end…but was I ever mistaken.

The seating took much longer than I had anticipated. Not to mention they were 20 minutes late—even if it did work out seeing as I took a long lunch break. The lighting men came around 2:15, but they didn't require much of my attention and were focused on their jobs. And then, much to my surprise, the band manager showed up. Apparently I had agreed on the phone for him to come and see where the players would be playing. And then promptly at 3:00 the circus performers arrived. They had to set up they're equipment as well as put roller skates on the elephant. This was certainly interesting. The gigantic animal had 3 sets of wheels on its feet when Sandy came along to investigate. I don't know whether he was playing, scared, or excited, but that dog would not stop barking. In return, the elephant let out a loud trumpet. It had started to move towards Sandy (and Annie, who was trying to pull the dog back), but thank goodness the trainer stopped him. Annie found the commotion amusing, but the seating man, however, found it beyond irritating.

"Miss Farrell, you did not inform me that you had other consultations this afternoon." he shouted over Sandy's barking.

"I apologize, Mr. Atwell. I didn't think our meeting would last so long."

"Well I'd think by now you'd know what it takes to plan a party." This wasn't the first occasion Mr. Atwell had been hired for. Every time single time he came up with some issue. Why we continued to hire him I will never know. He is such an unpleasant man to be around.

"Again, I apologize. It's been a very hectic week. I'm not as organized as I should be. After all, this is a big event to plan in just a few days' time."

"Then perhaps I should speak to Mr. Warbucks and suggest he find someone more capable of handling these sorts of gatherings." he threatened.

"Say what you want to him, I'd love to be relieved of this duty!"

Before Atwell had a chance to respond, none other than Oliver himself came barreling out of the house. "What on earth is going on out here?!" he bellowed. It'd been a while since I'd heard that yell. I rushed over to him and tried to explain, "I'm sorry for the noise. Everything started happening at once and it just started getting more and more chaotic. I'm trying to get things under control."

"See that you do!" he snipped. "I'm in the middle of a very important conference and none of us can even think with dogs barking, people shouting, and elephants screaming!" His face was going red he was so angry. I know it'd only been a week or so, but it felt like it had been years since I've seen this certain temper. Either way, I couldn't help but revert back into old habits. "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Warbucks. I promise you I'll get in under control in no time."

Instantly his anger disappeared, and his raging red face turned into a disappointed one. "Oh Grace, I'm not mad at you… just, the racket. I know it's not your fault. I apologize for yelling."

At this, I noticed Mr. Atwell, who had followed me, raise his eyebrows. It was apparent that he was wondering why Oliver Warbucks just apologized for the thing that made him famous—aside from his money of course.

"It's alright." I said after staring at him for a moment. "Perhaps you could take Sandy inside with you though."

Oliver nodded and signaled for Sandy to follow. The yard had grown hauntingly quiet since our exchange. Ignoring my humiliation, I pretended as if nothing had happened. "Okay everyone: let's try and make sense of things. Circus performers, stay around the stairs, Mr. Parker, if you'd be so kind and wait for me over by the fountain, we can discuss the band once I'm through with Mr. Atwell. Mr. Atwell, follow me." Everybody obeyed without a hassle much to my relief. As Mr. Atwell and I walked in silence over to the picnic area, Annie caught up to us and shot me a grin, "Did ya see that Miss Farrell?"

"What dear?"

"Mr. Warbucks. He felt bad for yellin'. And I don't think he liked you callin' him Mr. Warbucks either. I saw how he looked at you!"

Before she had the chance to say anything more in front of the gossip Atwell, I whispered, "Annie!"

"What?"

"This is not the time." Now at one of the tables, I took a seat as I prompted Annie, "Go watch the performers while I finish things up here."

"Aw come on, Miss Farrell, you're just shy because you saw how he looked at you too."

Once again, Atwell's eyebrows were raised. I could feel myself blush, which wasn't making matters any better. I did my best to ignore him, but it wasn't easy.

"Annie, please!" I snapped, surprising not only Annie and Atwell, but myself as well. "I said that this is not the time or place. Quite frankly I'm getting tired of this constant pushing. If anything is ever going to happen between Oliver and I we need space to figure it out on our own. I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but I can't take it anymore!" I then turned to Atwell and finished, "Are you happy now? Does this juicy bit of information make up for the elephant?" I didn't wait for his reaction. But when I turned back to Annie, my heart completely broke. She wasn't crying, but she looked at me with so much hurt in her eyes, along with betrayal and embarrassment. "Annie…" I breathed. _What have I done?_

"Sorry." she finally spoke before running off into the house.

I felt my emotions beginning to slip. "Excuse me." I said as I half turned back to Mr. Atwell before speeding off. _If only I could get away with running._

I barely made it into the house myself without crying. The stress of the day had caught up to me, as well as the lack of sleep. My blowing up at Annie made everything so much worse. Alright, I didn't quite 'blow up' at her. But it still was uncalled for. I'd had many opportunities to calmly tell her that her pushing was getting to be too much. No, instead I had to humor her and let my frustration build up. What else did I think was going to happen? I'd never raised my voice at her before. Hadn't she gotten enough of that at the orphanage? Sure, I figured somewhere down the line I'd have to scold her if she did something that called for it, but in this case, there was no excuse.

I ran up the main stairs as quickly as I could, only to run into Oliver at the top—literally.

Catching me before I hit the floor, he questioned, "Grace, are you alright?"

Keeping my head down, hoping he wouldn't notice my eyes, I said softly, "Yes, excuse me." I tried to move past him but he still had a hold of my hand.

"Wait." he said. I stopped, but continued to keep my head low as he went on. "There's something I want to discuss with you."

_Oh no… Annie told him. He must be fuming. _I looked up and broke out into a new set of tears. "Oh Oliver, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to yell at her. I didn't handle the situation well at all. I know she didn't mean any harm. There was just so much pressure on me at that moment. I don't know what happened; all of a sudden I was just… ranting and raising my voice. I'll make it up to her, I promise."

Seemingly trying to make sense of my weeping, he shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

I wiped my eyes and then looked up at him. "…what are **you **talking about?"

"I was just going to apologize again for my explosion and wanted to make sure we were okay."

_Wonderful_. "You were?"

"Yes," he nodded. "What happened? Which 'she' are we talking about?"

Knowing that there was no point in denying what I'd said, I plainly admitted, "Annie."

His eyes grew wide. "You yelled at Annie?"

"I didn't mean to." I cried.

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know. When you said that you had something to discuss with me I assumed she'd gone to you. She ran in the house, that's all I know."

"Let me find her, I'll talk to her." Before walking down the hall, he kissed my cheek. I have to admit, I was stunned.

"You're not angry with me?"

He turned back to face me and said, "Grace, my dear, I have no right to be mad at you—especially when you're clearly very upset by this. Why don't you go take a few minutes to yourself? We'll talk more about what happened later, right now the important thing is finding Annie."


	13. Chapter 13

While Oliver went to find Annie, I did as he said and took some time to recuperate. I felt awful. I'd just reprimanded the child for something that a week or so ago we were giggling about. I did find her yearning for me and Oliver to get together endearing, but it'd just gotten to be so frequent. I couldn't help but wonder if I was aggravated with it due to the fact I was lying to her. Well… maybe lying is too strong a term. After all, she never actually asked me if we were together… No, I was just… not telling her that she didn't need to bother hinting… Okay, I was lying. It may not have been direct, but I definitely wasn't telling her the truth. I hoped she hadn't gone far. I guess I didn't have to worry about that too much though; the gatemen wouldn't let her out alone unless Oliver had given them permission. I also hoped that Oliver wouldn't have too much trouble talking to her. Since nothing like this had happened before I didn't know what to expect.

When I got to my room I went over and sat at my vanity. My intention had been to fix my makeup, but once I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror a new set of tears came on. I let them fall; I was far too tired to fight them. The look I had seen on Annie's face kept springing into my mind. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin my relationship with her. Not that this single event would, but she'd told me about all the yelling from Miss Hannigan, I didn't want her to start thinking of me in that way. At the same time, I knew I was picturing what happened to be far worse than it actually had been. I just didn't get it; I wasn't usually so emotional under pressure. And I couldn't fully use lack of sleep as an excuse. There had been many sleepless nights in the past due to work and I still managed to stay on top of things. I didn't know why now should have been any different.

Eventually, I managed to collect myself, but I still didn't fix my makeup. Instead I just sat there, slouched over and resting my head on my hand. Even though I was more resting than thinking, I couldn't help but wonder what my mother would have done in this situation. Sure, she and I had been through worse, but remember, this was all new to me. Not to mention everything else that was going on at the same time.

Roughly a half an hour later I heard a knock at my door. "Come in." I called. As I had figured by the force of the knock, it was Oliver. Taking no time to wait, I stood up and interrogated, "Did you find her? Is she terribly upset with me? Is she okay?"

With a slight chuckle, Oliver held up a hand, "Slow down… Yes, I did find her. She's fine, I spoke with her."

"Where was she, what happened?"

"Don't worry; she was only in her room. Let me start by saying that she has no ill feelings towards you."

"I find that hard to believe." I scoffed.

"I mean it. She told me that she felt bad for 'bugging' you as well as embarrassing you."

Nervously, I asked my next question. "Did she tell you what happened?"

With a nod, he answered, "Yes, she did."

"Oh Oliver, I don't know why I reacted the way I did. It might have been because she was saying things about us in front of Mr. Atwell. Even before Annie came over he was watching you and I closely. I'm sure by tomorrow morning there will be some sort of rumor about us in the papers."

"We'll ignore it."

_Easier said than done… _I thought, but I didn't have the nerve to say it aloud. "Where is Annie now? May I speak to her?"

"Yes, she's still in her room." he answered.

"Thanks," I half smiled.

When I started for the door he gently said, "Grace?"

I turned around. "Yes?"

"After you've talked to Annie and after you've finished your meetings would you mind meeting me in my office?"

The tone of his voice was very serious. My face grew either very red or very white—I was too anxious to tell. I tried not to let it show though and I simply nodded.

…

Annie's door was open, so I peeked my head in. "Annie?"

"Hi…" she greeted shyly.

Slowly walking in, I asked, "Can we talk?"

She simply shrugged in response, keeping her focus on the dog in her lap.

I sat down on the side of her bed and began. "Annie, I'm very sorry for snapping at you. I-I was very stressed out at that moment, and I handled it terribly. I didn't mean to take my aggravation out on you."

"But you were annoyed at me."

"It was the timing, not so much you dear. That man who was with us… he doesn't know how to mind his own business. I was afraid of what he might think."

Finally looking up at me, she questioned, "And that's why you said that now wasn't the time?"

I nodded.

Looking back down again, she said, "I'm sorry I didn't listen. And I'm sorry I keep tryin' to get you and Mr. Warbucks together."

Brushing the hair away from her eyes, I shook my head. "You don't have to apologize. I should have discussed it with you calmly before an explosion. I didn't want to hurt your feelings or make you feel bad. Obviously I didn't do a very good job of it."

"It's just that you seem so happy now when you're together. I like it. I want us all to be a family."

Taking her hand in mine, I agreed, "I do too. I'm going to be honest with you: I really **do** like Mr. Warbucks. I know that this isn't news to you, but I'm saying it out loud. I **am** happy when I'm with him. But sometimes matters like these need to unfold at their own pace."

Annie shook her head in puzzlement. "That's almost exactly what Mr. Warbucks told me."

"It is?" I was a bit surprised.

She nodded, "Yeah. So if you both like each other, why aren't you together?"

With a sigh, I tried to explain. "I've been working for Oliver for many years. He's my boss and I'm his secretary. It'll take time to adjust. Even if we did jump right into a relationship, we might still feel funny acting differently around other people—especially since they're accustomed to our professional relationship." At least I was sort of telling the truth…

"I guess I understand." She was silent for a few seconds, and then she looked to me and said, "I just know you'd be real happy."

"I'm sure we would be. But for now, let's just drop the matter—at least until after your party. Then you can have all the fun you want with your 'romantic scheming'." I winked. "I promise you, I'll appreciate it much more then." _Since I will then be telling you the full truth—no matter what Oliver says! This has become so much bigger than it needs to be. _

"Okay, I think I can do that." she smiled, but it wasn't a genuine 'Annie smile'.

"Are you still upset with me?"

She shook her head. "No, I still feel bad though."

"Don't feel bad, sweetie. I'm the one who should be feeling bad."

"But I should'a known not to bug ya while you were working… especially since you were getting ready for **my **party."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "How about we agree to forget this whole thing and neither of us feel bad or guilty?"

Her smile now grew a bit wider and she nodded, "Yeah that sounds good."

"Good, now come here." I held my arms open wide for her. Moving Sandy out of the way, she scooted closer and snuggled into me. "I promise I'll never yell at you again."

Annie grinned, "You can't promise that—I'm a handful."

Bursting into laughter, I agreed, "That you are!" Then kissing the top of her head I said, "And I wouldn't have you any other way."

"I love you, Miss Farrell."

"I love you too, Annie."

I stayed with her for a couple more minutes, and then I unfortunately had to get back outside. I knew there would be plenty of people annoyed with me and all wanting my attention at once.


	14. Chapter 14

Somehow I managed to get through the rest of the day somewhat smoothly. I ended up missing dinner though. Oh well, I wasn't feeling very hungry anyway. I couldn't stop wondering why Oliver sounded so serious when he asked me to see him in his office. I was probably just overreacting again, but there had been a lot of 'incidents' since the very start of the day. (A lot of which could have me at fault.) At least Annie and I had sorted things out. That was the most important thing.

It was after 7:00 when I'd finally completed all the day's tasks, so that was when I went to see Oliver. He noticed me instantly when I entered the office. Looking up from some papers he joked, "Long time, no see."

Walking over, I fell into my chair in front of his desk. "What a day this has been."

"Glad to see it coming to an end?"

"Definitely." I nodded. Not wanting to drag this out, I went straight to the point. "You said you wanted to see me earlier?"

Growing serious again, he pushed his papers aside, held his hands out for me to take, and asked, "Are you alright?"

A bit confused, I shrugged, "Yeah. I'm fine. Still tired, but I made it through the day."

"Are you sure?" he persisted.

Growing even more confused, I replied, "Yes?" I felt like I was a criminal in an interrogation room the way he stared at me. "Is there something going on that I'm not aware of?"

"You've seemed sort of distant today." he answered.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how else to put it. You've seemed preoccupied. And I don't mean with work."

Again, I shrugged, "Well there was the situation with Annie but-"

"No, no. Even before that—ever since this morning. I know it was kind of a rough start… is that what's bothering you?"

I didn't know where he was heading with this. "Wow, I have to be honest and say that I'd forgotten about that. I've had so many other things on my mind." It was the truth.

"Like what?"

Now I was getting irritated. "I don't know: work, party planning, Annie, more party planning, and quite frankly I've been nervous about coming in here."

Looking surprised, he questioned, "How come?"

"You sounded so serious; and this was right before I went to talk to Annie. I thought that you were going to 'discuss' the matter with me."

"Oh no, it's not that. I would have done the same thing if I were in your position—and you know it would have been 10 times worse!" he laughed before he went on. "But in all seriousness, I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Frankly, I was wondering if maybe there was something bothering you that you hadn't told me."

I was quiet a moment while I thought of things that could have been keeping me 'distant' as he had put it. There was only one thing that came to mind. "Well, now that I think about it, I have been thinking about my mother a lot more recently; especially since I mentioned her the other night. Memories of her seem to pop up for nearly every situation I'm in lately."

"You really miss her, don't you?" he asked with a sympathetic expression.

"I do." I said at a volume that was almost in audible. I took a deep breath and then managed to say a bit more strongly, "I didn't realize that it was having an outward affect. Hopefully I'll get some rest tonight and I'll be back to normal tomorrow."

Oliver stood up and came around to the front of the desk. Then retaking both of my hands he pulled me up and lead me over to the sofa in the corner of the room. Sitting us both down, he asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

I looked away shyly. "It's alright."

"Are you sure?" he persevered.

Part of me really did want to tell him about my mother, but another part of me didn't want to go through **another** ordeal. I looked back to him. He looked at me with such care and concern… I sighed, "I guess talking about her is better than keeping it bottled up inside. But I'm warning you: there is no way I'm going to get through this without being emotional. So now is your chance to take back your offer to listen."

To this, Oliver reached into the breast pocket of his blazer and pulled out a handkerchief. Handing it to me, he said, "I'm ready."

I told him all about my mother. I told him about the way she looked, the way she spoke, the way she sang me to sleep when I was very little. I told him how smart and funny she was as well as kind and caring. I shared some humorous stories and nice memories I had of her. I knew Oliver was really listening and that he really cared about what I was saying. It'd been so long since I'd been able to talk about her. My father never liked to speak of her. If it was just a mention in passing then he didn't mind so much, but in-depth discussions? Absolutely not.

Inevitably I got around to explaining her death. That was one thing I rarely let myself think about. By this point, I was sobbing. "It was terribly sudden. One day she was up and about and doing swell, the next day she went to the doctors for a simple stomach ache, and not long after that she was bedridden and fighting for her life. The cancer started in her stomach, and then it spread like a wildfire. She didn't last 4 months."

Oliver's voice shook, "Oh Grace, I am so sorry." At one point he had put an arm around me, but now he pulled me very close to him and simply held me until I calmed down. I was so embarrassed, but it did feel good to let it all out. I think some of what I was emoting had been held in since she'd died. When it happened, I had tried to remain strong for my father; he'd just lost the love of his life, I didn't want to burden him anymore. Well… I guess my feelings were better late than never.

After telling a couple more stories, I then said with a weak smile, "I wish she could have stayed around long enough to meet you. I know she would have liked you."

Smiling compassionately, he brushed a stray tear from my cheek and wondered, "You think so?" I nodded, and he then asked, "Any particular reason?"

"Because she'd see how happy you make me." My smile grew stronger. "And you're a good man, Oliver Warbucks."

"I'm learning." he said as he kissed my forehead.

Another gloomy thought soon crossed my mind. "She would have liked Annie too… When it comes to matters with her I find myself wondering what my mom would do; especially with what happened earlier."

"Well, like a said a couple days ago, she certainly sounds like a wonderful mother. She obviously taught you very well. Annie adores you."

"I'm quite fond of her myself." I grinned.

There were a few seconds of silence, and then I thought aloud, "You know… as awful as it was losing my mother, things ultimately worked out for the best."

"They did?" he asked in puzzlement.

"I don't know if I ever would have come to work for you. You see, after she died I started working and working and working just so I could get out of the house and keep distracted. I saw the ad you put in the paper about urgently needing a secretary…and here I am."

Oliver laughed, "Bless my last secretary for quitting." He then winked. "Do you know why I hired you?"

Looking at him curiously, I questioned, "Actually, I've been wanting to ask that question for quite some time. There were far more qualified applicants in the sitting room than I—with college degrees nonetheless. As you know I never finished."

"If I remember correctly, I'd gotten a phone call during our interview. Whoever it was ticked me off and I ended up yelling and slamming the phone down."

I waited for him to go on. When he didn't, I prompted, "…and?"

"And you went right on with the interview."

"I vaguely remember this. Clearly I was desperate for the job!" I giggled.

"No one has stood by me as long as you have… well except for my lawyer perhaps." he teased.

"It's been an honor."

"Has it really?"

I nodded, "You know, I **do** mean it when I say you're a good man. I wouldn't lie to you."

Oliver sighed, "I know… I'm sorry I keep questioning you."

"You don't have to apologize. I know you've been through a lot lately."

He smiled, but before he could say anything else the phone rang. As he stood up to answer it, I wondered, "Who could that be?"

With a huff, he said, "Guess."

I chuckled, that was his 'Roosevelt' voice.

Obviously, I couldn't hear what Franklin was saying, but by Oliver's responses I gathered that he was informing him of his travel plans. Apparently, earlier that day Annie had begged him to invite Franklin and Eleanor to stay at the house. I for one was very amused. This promised to be an entertaining visit.

Towards the end of the conversation Oliver signaled for me to jot down some information. I quickly grabbed a pen and some paper and wrote whatever Oliver dictated. Hanging up not long after, he slumped into his chair and groaned, "How did I let that child talk me into this?"

"Because she's very good at getting what she wants." I laughed.

"That's for sure." he agreed.

I watched him a moment. After talking to him about my mother, I felt so much closer to him. I told him things that I hadn't told anyone since her death—some even before. Though the topic was a bit sad, I felt better than I had all day. So now I was increasingly curious about Oliver's past…

Going behind the desk, closer to him, I leaned on the edge and began, "Oliver… what were your parents like? You never really got into their story to the other night."

His eyes grew wide. "Didn't I?"

Lightly, I shook my head. "Nope. You mostly just mentioned your brother and that you came from a poor family."

"Oh…" Nervously, he looked away.

Sensing that I'd erred, I said, "You don't have to talk about them if you don't want too. I understand—I was just curious."

He sighed, "I made you talk about your mother. I can't really say no."

I took his hand. "Of course you can. Evidently I wanted to talk despite my initial objection. I must say though, I feel a lot better. But really, Oliver, you don't have to say anything you don't want to."

He looked up at me for a minute or so seemingly contemplating. After a while though I stood up and tried changing the subject, but he caught my arm and pulled me back. "Wait."

"Yes?"

"…you really feel better?"

I shrugged, "I'm a bit drained, but ultimately, yes, I do feel better."

There was another minute of silence, and then he started meekly, "They drank."

_This story is going to tear my heart to shreds, isn't it?_

"My mother wasn't as bad as my father, but she drank nonetheless. I always knew that the habit was part of why we were poor."

"I am so sorry…"

He squeezed my hand. "It could have been worse, that's for sure. They weren't abusive—physically anyways. Verbally my father could be quite cruel. My mother wasn't a mean drunk like he was, but once my brother and I were old enough to walk, she rarely shielded us from his tirades—I inherited my bellow from him, you know."

A small smile appeared on my lips at his last comment, but my expression turned solemn again as he went on.

"Naturally, my brother and I were very close. So when he died it was as if I'd lost everything. In a sense, I suppose I did…"

I noticed that he was biting his lip and shaking very slightly. "Oliver, it's okay for you to cry."

He shook his head, "I haven't for years, I'm not about to start now."

I scooted down the desk in order to reach him better. I wrapped my arms around him tightly as I said, "You've let yourself feel joy now that Annie is here. Unfortunately, with joy comes sorrow and all of the other emotions."

"It just doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't, but then again a lot of things in life don't."

His fist was clenched tightly and he refused to look me in the eye. I felt bad. I sort of roped him into this conversation. Though I knew his resisting was only making the struggle worse for him, I didn't say another word. He needed to figure this out for himself. I simply continued to embrace him with my head resting on top of his. I don't remember how much time had passed, but I saw his fist quickly unclench right before he pulled me onto his lap. Hugging me tightly, soft sobs escaped him. How I managed to keep myself together I'll never know. Perhaps something deep inside of me knew that I needed to be strong for him. I continued not to speak. There was no doubt that he had a nearly a lifetime of emotions to get out. And though he hadn't collapsed quite as much as I had, it was hard to witness. Just knowing that he'd held this in for so long hurt.

After some time he cooled down, but he maintained his grip on me. I literally had to push myself off of him just so I could see his face. He looked absolutely exhausted. I frowned as I reached for the handkerchief he'd given me earlier and then brushed it against his face. "Are you alright?" I asked in concern.

Feebly, he nodded. "I think so… I feel rather foolish, however."

"Don't feel foolish on my account." I stated. "I think tonight was a long time coming for both of us."

"Perhaps." To my surprise, he then continued with his story. "After my brother died, I knew I couldn't stay with my parents; things would only be worse with the tragedy. As I said before, I vowed that day that I would someday be rich. Never again did I want to feel so helpless due to a lack of money. I guess work was also a way to keep my mind off of my sorrows; as you did with your mother."

"Who would have guessed we'd be so alike?" I smiled.

He smiled as well, but didn't say anything in reply. I took this opportunity to softly brush his lips with my own before I stood up. It was a good thing I had gotten off his lap too, because not a minute later Annie bounded into the room. "I can't believe you guys are still working!"

Oliver glanced at me with a confused look before responding, "It's only, what, 8ish?"

Annie shook her head, "It's after 10."

"What?!" we said in unison.

"Yeah, I know it's passed my bedtime but I figured you were working on something important."

"We were." he answered.

I nodded in agreement with him, and then Annie asked, "Since you thought it was 8, does that mean I get to stay up another hour?"

Oliver and I both laughed. "Nice try." I said. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Knowing that it was a lost cause, Annie shrugged, "It was worth a shot."

I took her hand and we started walking upstairs. Oliver followed close behind. As we walked, he discreetly whispered into my ear, "Thank you."

I looked to him with an expression that silently asked what he was thanking me for.

Again, he whispered, "I **do** feel better."


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm so sorry about the delay posting this chapter. I've had horrible writers block and this just wasn't coming. Hopefully it will be over soon and I'll upload in a more timely fashion. Thank you Silvermissstt for listening to me complain about not being able to write... Anyways, here's chapter 15! Sorry it's a bit short and dry-but I need some filler before things pick up again ;)**

* * *

The next few days went by much more smoothly than the previous ones. Annie and I remained on good terms, Oliver and I made sure to spend some time together (we even snuck out into the gardens one night for a walk), and I was able to balance my work and party duties without becoming overwhelmed. That talk Oliver and I had in his office had done wonders for not only me, but him as well. There was a noticeable change in his attitude. Even his manor towards me had changed. In a way, he seemed more at ease when we were together. Not that he was particularly uncomfortable before… Well, I guess he had been at least somewhat for me to notice this big a difference. I suppose maybe my head had been spinning too at all this.

Another thing that must have helped was that Annie had heard my request to put off any 'pushing' until after her party. Nonetheless, I did notice her eyes darting back and forth between us from time to time. I knew she wanted to say something, but she did a good job of biting her tongue. I felt bad for her 'struggle', especially when it wasn't really necessary, but what could I do? My energy needed to be spent on trying not to show any affection towards Oliver, when there were people around. That was a task that was getting harder and harder each day. The more time I spent with him (romantically), the less I wanted to hide how I felt for him. Sure, that was a given from the start, but now it was getting even more difficult (which was something I didn't think was possible). Though, keeping such a secret did have a certain excitement to it… not that we were doing anything that really required secrecy. But this was as alone as we'd ever be. Once we announced that we're a couple, a house full of people would be very aware of us (especially since I've confided in a few of them about my feelings towards Oliver in the past).

Back to struggling with keeping my affections under wraps: it didn't help that Oliver made a game of it and began making faces at me from across the room or playfully kicking my leg underneath the table during meals (or in one case, a meeting). That was when Annie would start glancing between us because it never failed to startle me. I made sure to get him back. I'd let a few strands of hair slip loose from their pins and call his attention to me. I would also 'accidentally' get my fingers tangled with his when passing papers, pens, etc. My favorite though was once when he was on a phone call… Since nobody was in the room, I went over to him and started kissing his cheek. After sliding into his lap I proceeded with similar gestures. I don't remember who he was talking to, but I'm sure whoever is was wasn't too thrilled when the conversation was cut short. I couldn't believe how bold and, quite frankly, silly I'd become. I prided myself on professionalism, and there I was intentionally disrupting a business call. Even though Oliver had welcomed the distraction, it still was—in the greater scheme of things—a waste of valuable time. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that a majority of this behavior was coming from 'the secret'. Once it was out in the open, things would have to go on as normally as possible as far as work was concerned. It was going to be tricky enough maintaining not only our working relationship, but now a romantic one. Balancing the two would definitely be a challenge, but Oliver and I talked it over and it's something we think is worth the effort. Actually, he had been afraid that I was going to quit working for him. I simply laughed because I had been worried that he wasn't going to want me as a secretary anymore—especially since we'd had this conversation not too long after the phone 'incident'. Thankfully, he too understood that **both **of us had been acting unprofessional. We would have to be more businesslike once we made the announcement… but in the meantime, we figured we may as well goof off while we could.

* * *

Around 3 the day before the party, Annie and I set off to pick up her friends from the orphanage. She wanted to surprise them by taking them all shopping for party dresses, so Oliver made the arrangements. I thought he would be coming along with us, but at the last minute he said that something had come up and that he wasn't going to make it. Annie was particularly disappointed, but overall she was just happy to be going at all. I was irritated myself due to the fact that I was going to be in charge of 7 little girls all on my own. But thankfully, the Asp agreed to help out. Still, it was a shame that Oliver would be missing out on the experience.

When we arrived to the orphanage, Annie leaped out of the car and bolted towards the building's door. She was already ringing the bell when I stepped out of the vehicle. She was soon let in, and allowed to gather the girls.

The looks on their faces were priceless—they were absolutely thrilled. Since Annie's kidnapping, Oliver had been working on replacing Miss Hannigan. Though she was somewhat let off the hook, she still was not the ideal person to be taking care of children and the orphanage. For now, someone who worked for the New York Board of Orphans was managing until someone permanent person could be found. Oliver was also going to make citywide donations of clothing, toys, books, and other goods to the orphanages. But given everything with Annie in recent days, he hadn't had a pocket of time to sit down and fully organize the collections. (I was pretty sure that would become my next task after the party was over. I didn't mind though. It was a very good cause and I knew where I could find some eager little helpers.) Given those factors, the girls were still wearing the same clothing they had on when I first met them. Party dresses were certainly going to be a treat.

We arrived at Bonwit Teller just before 4. The minute they were through the doors, the girls began running around in search of their future attire. Even though Annie was always very energetic, she maintained it in situations where it was called for. However, being with her friends again unleashed her inner hellion and she was running around the store along with them (especially since she wanted to be with each of them at once). Bless the workers for being so patient. They took notice of the girls' appearances and knew that they were not accustomed to these sorts of outings. Still, I reined them in and told them not to get too carried away. They were apologetic, and went about their search a bit more quietly.

The trip took close to two hours (which I had figured), and even though there had been some arguments over who got which dress, we all left the store in good spirits and happy with what was purchased.

On the way back to the orphanage, Annie spotted an ice cream parlor and suggested that we stop (as we had when she and I went dress shopping earlier that week). Needless to say, it was me versus all of them. I knew that I would probably be getting a call from the orphanage later given it was almost dinner time, but how could I say no?

"Oh Mr. Warbucks, just wait 'til you see all my friends. They look swell in their party dresses. It was so much fun helping them pick out what to wear. I don't think any of them had ever seen such pretty clothes. I know I sure hadn't before coming here!"

"Annie, Annie… Slow down. You're talking a mile a minute." Oliver laughed before he took another bite of his dinner.

"Sorry, it was just a lotta fun. Someday you need to come shopping with us." she grinned.

I was silently amused by the comment, knowing well that Oliver detested the idea of buying new clothes. I don't think I'd ever seen him go into a clothing store; he always had a tailor come to the house.

"Perhaps for the next party." he replied. "Since we're on the topic, I take it you are excited for yours tomorrow?"

"Yes!" she cheered after swallowing a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "I can't wait to see all of my friends again."

I smiled sympathetically, "You've really missed them, haven't you?" There was no need for me to ask though. Seeing her with them earlier was answer enough.

"Yeah…" she nodded shyly. "We've never been apart for so long. At least since they've arrived to the orphanage."

"Were you there the longest?" Oliver asked.

I knew the answer already since she'd already told me the story, but I let her answer. "Pretty much. Duffy's been there ever since I remember. I don't know if she was left as a baby too because we were both so young. And then Tessie has been there since we were 3. The other girls were there when they were older. Except Molly, she came when she was nearly 5, but she's the youngest out of all of us. I was 8 when she came."

Oliver's jaw had dropped somewhere in the middle of Annie's explanation. "Wow," he breathed. "I never realized how many young children were in orphanages."

"There are a lot." Annie sighed. "We haven't had many new girls since Molly because we ran out of beds."

I could tell by the look in Oliver's eyes that more solutions were beginning to brew. "How come you've never mentioned this before?"

Annie shrugged, "I didn't wanna bother you. Besides, I figured you knew everything about… well everything."

"Not everything." Oliver chuckled. I was waiting for him to say more, but he went back to eating instead.


	16. Chapter 16

**Well, apparently muddling through the last chapter was worth it, because here's the second update this week! ;) Thank you all for reviewing.**

* * *

The rest of dinner was rather quiet. Oliver was lost in thought and Annie was busy cleaning her plate before stuffing down dessert. This left me to my own thoughts, which happened to venture to wondering about what Oliver was thinking. I would have assumed that he was thinking about what Annie had said about the orphanage, but this wasn't the first time I'd noticed him lost in thought that day. Every time I asked him what the matter was, he didn't answer. Well, he responded, but he always perked up and said it was nothing. I didn't believe him for a minute, but I was waiting until later to press him.

Later never seemed to come, however. Shortly after dinner, he handed me a mountain of paperwork to sort through. I couldn't believe it. This was the second pile that day. I didn't dare debate it though. I quietly sat at my desk and began. Only a minute or so later he excused himself from the room. When I asked where he was going, he answered (again, that day) with 'I have some business to attend to'. He never stuck around long enough to tell me what that business was. By the time he got back, I was always busy with something else.

The longer I went through the papers, I realized that these were the exact same copies I'd gone through earlier—they were only mixed up again. Aside from being annoyed that I had to sort through them once more, I grew insanely suspicious. What was he up to? He was the only one who had touched the papers, so he was the one who messed them up. I looked to see if the pages showed any sign of being dropped, but they merely looked shuffled. If they hadn't needed to be in order by tomorrow morning, I would have called it a night. I swiftly redid them and then eagerly went in search of Oliver.

However, I was only steps out of the office door when Annie came running up to me.

"It's my bedtime, Miss Farrell." she informed.

I glanced at my watch, and replied, "Not for another half an hour. Since when are you so eager to get in bed… are you sick?"

As I felt her forehead, she giggled, "No, I'm fine. But my party's tomorrow. I wanna get lots of sleep so I can stay up for the fireworks."

"Hey, those were supposed to be your **one **surprise!"

Again, she giggled. "Oops."

I laughed, "Obviously there is very little we can keep from you as far as parties go."

"Why, is there something else I don't know about?"

Shaking my head I replied, "Nope, the fireworks were the last thing."

Rather than looking disappointed, she looked accomplished. "Good! That was my goal."

We leisurely started walking to her room. As we did, I wondered aloud, "Have you seen Mr. Warbucks?"

"No, I thought he was with you in the office." she answered.

_Sure, she knows everything about her party but hasn't kept her tabs on Oliver. _"Oh." I sighed.

Curiously, she looked up at me and probed, "Why? Is everything alright?"

Sensing a bit of concern in her voice, I quickly corrected, "Oh I'm sure he's fine." It wasn't a complete lie. I didn't think he was harmed. It wasn't as if he had been missing for hours and nobody had seen him. He was just up to something. What, I didn't know. And that's what I was hoping to find out from Annie.

"Really?" she interrogated as raced to the top of the stairs.

Following behind at a much slower and more tired pace, I repeated, "Really." Then catching up to her, I continued, "He stepped out for some business."

"What kind of business?"

"No idea." I shrugged. "That's why I asked you, since you are apparently a good snoop." I finished with a wink.

Turning the corner and down the hall towards her door, she said, "Sure, when it's about me, but I can't keep up with Daddy's work!" By the look on my face, I could tell that she regretted the way she had just addressed Oliver. "I mean Mr. Warbucks!" she hastily corrected.

Walking into her room, I sat down on the edge of her bed, gesturing for her to do the same. "You know Annie, the papers are signed. You're allowed to call him 'Daddy'."

She sat down next to me, but never looked up. "I know," she started as I wrapped an arm around her. "I was waiting until tomorrow. The party will make everything official."

I half smiled, "Is that all?"

"Yeah," she answered unconvincingly.

"Are you **sure**?" I pushed. "You know, you can tell me anything."

Finally looking at me, she took a breath before admitting, "It feels kinda funny. He was Mr. Warbucks to me and now he's my father. I'm happy about it, but…"

"But what?" I questioned when she failed to go on. "Does this have to do with your birth parents?" I wondered.

"Nah." She said truthfully. "I did worry they might be mad at first, but then I figured maybe they helped me find Mr. Warbucks… and you. They knew you guys would take great care of me."

Oblivious to her pause before mentioning me, I stated in confusion, "I still don't see what the problem might be."

"…what do I call you?"

**Now** everything was coming into place. "Is this why you've been so insistent on me getting together with Oliver?"

Bashfully looking away, she nodded. "It might sound funny to call you Mom and him Dad when you aren't married or anything. You're like my mom though. I don't like just calling you Miss Farrell. But if I also call Mr. Warbucks, Mr. Warbucks, then it doesn't seem so strange."

Cupping her face with my hands, I kissed her forehead. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I didn't want ya feelin' bad or guilty."

_Too late, _I thought before I continued observing. "And you wanted us to get together before your party so you could call us both mom and dad there…"

"Yeah…" she looked down a moment before looking back. "Are you mad?"

I stood and pulled her up into a hug. "Of course not, darling." I assured. "I'm touched actually."

"You are?

Stepping back and kneeling to her height, I laughed, "Of course I am! I love you as if you were my own daughter."

Annie smiled a moment, and then grew serious again. "Do you think you'll really be my mom someday?"

I looked at her a moment, trying to formulate a proper response. There was only a day or two left before I could be completely honest, but right now I couldn't bear to lie again. "Yes…" I confessed. "I do." Marriage hadn't been mentioned between me and Oliver—in fact, we hadn't even said 'I love you' yet—but when I looked to the future, I saw it with Oliver (and Annie, of course).

Thankfully she didn't ask me to elaborate my answer. Instead, she hugged me again and then started getting ready for bed.

Oliver wasn't back from wherever he was in time to say goodnight to Annie. Now I was a bit worried, and frankly, annoyed. It was bad enough that he wasn't there to say goodnight to Annie the night before, as she put it, her adoption was 'official', but now he was cutting in to our time together. There was so much I wanted to talk to him about. I wanted to tell him what Annie had told me—though, I did have to promise her not to tell about how she accidentally said 'Daddy'. I guess with all this 'free time' I had now, I could articulate a good way to ask him if we could tell her about us before the party. It wasn't going to be easy though; remember that was a major reason why we waited.

I'd considered waiting in the library, but I decided to wait in the office instead. _May as well get some work done if I have to be up waiting for him. _I wasn't going to wait all night though.

…

At least another 45 minutes had passed before he finally appeared. "Oliver, where on earth have you been?" I immediately interrogated. "You didn't come say goodnight to Annie."

"I know, I apologize. I got very busy." he replied with no particular prominence.

"Doing what?"

"Ah," he shrugged, "odds and ends. No matter now." He walked past me and to his desk with ease.

"There is too a matter." I quipped. "You keep randomly disappearing without explanation, you've been drifting off all day, and over the past few days you have been very 'whispery' with Punjab."

"Well," he began, "tomorrow is a big day. He's been helping me organize the extra security, along with a few other minor details. With the performers, I'd like to be prepared in case one of their stunts goes awry."

After taking a moment to process, I said, "That's understandable... but I don't see why you would be so secretive about it."

He shrugged, "I don't know, I suppose I didn't want it to be too over thought or technical for Annie."

"What about me?" I reminded.

Letting out a slight chuckle, he explained, "I know how you gals are always talking."

"I wouldn't have told her security plans—mostly because it would just bore her."

Standing from his desk, he came over to me and took my hands. "Good, I was just being over cautious, I'm sorry. Besides, you went through enough trouble with these arrangements. I didn't want you to take my precautions as one more chore for yourself."

Still unconvinced, I probed one last time, "Are you sure that's all?"

"I'm sure."

I was still doubtful, but it was clear that he wasn't going to let up. I guess some of what he said made sense… but hopefully in time he would tell me fully. Now, I wanted to relay my conversation with Annie to him. Then, before I had the chance, he pecked my cheek and said, "Why don't we just spend some time together in here tonight? I don't think anyone will be bothering us. Besides, we shouldn't get too comfortable. Tomorrow is going to be incredibly busy and we both need to rest."

This left me with a tough choice: Do I tell him about my conversation with Annie? Do I go on scolding him about his disappearance? Or do I unwind with him and put off the other two until morning?

As much as I wanted to go with the latter, I put Annie ahead of my own wishes. Leaning against Oliver's desk, I began. "Annie said something interesting to me tonight."

"What was that?" he questioned as he leaned/sat next to me.

"The reason she's wanted us together this past week…" I stopped short. I had absolutely no idea how to say this without giving away Annie's 'surprise'.

I was hoping to put together my next sentence quickly, but I lost that battle when Oliver encouraged, "Yes?"

"…s-she just wants us to be a family." I felt like I was stating the obvious, but I had to say **something**.

"We are a family."

I smiled wide at this. I supposed we were, but yet, not quite. "Yeah?"

"Of course we are, my dear." he laughed.

"But she doesn't know this. Well, I'm sure she feels as though we are, but she wants us to be together like parents."

"After tomorrow we will tell her everything. Until then, let's enjoy one more night alone together." In attempts to conclude the conversation, he tried to kiss me, but I moved aside.

"Oliver," I sighed, "can't we tell her before the party?"

Frustrated that I'd pulled away, he grumbled, "I thought the whole reason we were keeping the secret was to avoid upstaging her."

"It was one of them. Oh, I know it may sound like a silly request after sneaking around all this time, but it would really mean a lot to her."

"I don't know, Grace…"

"What's the worst that could happen?"

He explained, "I just don't want the reporters to have a field day with us when this is supposed to be centered on her."

"I know, I know…" I breathed. "Then can we tell her **right **before the party is over?"

"How about when we tuck her in?"

Twisting my lips, I surrendered, "Fine… I guess that'll do."

I'd looked away from him, but with his hand he guided my chin so I was looking at him once more. "Come on, where's that smile I've grown so accustomed to?"

Rolling my eyes, I forced a grin.

"I guess that'll do." he teased.


	17. Chapter 17

"Grace... Grace darling, wake up."

I stirred and cracked my eyes open to see Oliver standing above me. "What is it?" I mumbled. I didn't look at the clock, but I knew it was late. "Is something wrong?"

"N-No..." he stuttered. "I-I just wanted to spend s-some time with you."

After our conversation about Annie, we had pretty much decided to call it a night. We were both tired and too preoccupied with our own separate thoughts to focus on the other or make conversation. Of course, that's not to say I didn't miss him, but I really was tired. The mix of a busy day along with the promise of a hectic one the next was not necessarily pleasant.

Exhaustion had taken its toll. Without thinking, I replied by saying, "Just crawl into bed with me and go to sleep."

I shut my eyes again and moved to the side, but he pulled me back. "We should go somewhere else."

By now, I had sort of heard myself, but I was still too sleepy to care. "Oliver, I took 7 screaming girls shopping today; and I know one of those girls will be in here promptly at dawn to wake me up for more craziness. All I want to do is sleep."

"We can sleep downstairs."

"Oliver…" I groaned. I was going to continue my protest, but I suddenly found myself being scooped up into his arms and carried out of the room. _Same old Oliver always wanting his way... _At least I didn't have to walk."If I fall asleep tomorrow it's your fault."

"I will take full responsibility," he whispered.

Had my eyes been open, I would have noticed that Oliver hadn't taken me to the library. Even when he set me down in an unfamiliar seat, I failed to comprehend anything out of the ordinary. He hadn't said anything since the hallway and continued the silence as he sat down next to me. I must have dozed off pretty quickly before then because I was jarred by how tightly his arms were wrapped around me. "Can I sleep now?" I muttered.

In a low voice, he answered, "Yes."

However, not a minute later I was once again jolted. I opened my eyes and saw Punjab setting down a sleeping Annie on the other side of Oliver. This was when I noticed that we weren't in the library. In fact, I'd never seen this room before. "Where are we?" I shot up to my feet. It almost looked like… "Is… is this a bomb shelter?" I looked around the room frantically. The lighting was dim, there wasn't a window in sight, and the ceiling was low. It was furnished, but it was simple décor. There was a sofa almost, but not quite, against the back wall (where we were sitting), and a small coffee table beside it in the corner. In the corner by the door, there was a supply of food and water. Lastly, there was a trunk up against the middle of the wall to the left of me. The room was rather small (and I don't just say that because I was accustomed to the plentiful space of the mansion). I knew that Oliver had mentioned building this shelter at some point, but I had no idea that it had actually been built.

Pulling me back down, he hushed, "Grace, Grace… we have to remain calm."

"What's going on, Oliver? I demand to know right this minute!" I couldn't help raising my voice.

"Shhh…" he reacted. "I don't want Annie to wake up."

"Answer my question."

After letting out a distressed sigh, he began. "You know how you accused me of acting suspicious?"

"Don't beat around the bush." I warned.

Knowing he was fighting a losing battle, he admitted defeat. "It's the Bolsheviks. They're still after me… and—with the recent press—they're after you and Annie as well."

I froze. How on earth was I supposed to process what he had just told me? This explained so much. Punjab was usually fairly blunt with me, but he was acting with secrecy right along with Oliver recently. This explained why they kept disappearing and why he stayed home from our shopping trip. This explained the unusual looks of concern I'd seen all day. Now I was wondering if I was glad he kept it from me… I don't think I could have handled knowing that we'd have to take cover. Yet, I didn't appreciate finding out this way.

"Grace?"

I shook my thoughts out of my head before responding. "Yeah…"

"Did you hear me?"

_Of course I heard you, you imbecilic! _"I did."

"Are you alright?" he asked as he stroked my arm.

"I-I don't know." _Absolutely not!_

"Sahib, I am going to rejoin the Asp in the search." Punjab inserted.

Oliver nodded to him as confirmation while I interrogated, "What's happening?"

"They broke into the house—armed—and they hid before they could be caught. The Asp heard the noise and found the shattered glass. He came and told me to get you and Annie to a safe place. I didn't want to waste any time, so I came and got you while Punjab got her." He paused and looked down at the little girl still fast asleep in his arm; completely oblivious to the crisis in progress. "I figured it would be less alarming for you if I came in under the pretenses of wanting to spend time together. Which I do—but I'd rather it not be in this circumstance."

This was all too much. "Why are they after Annie and me?"

"Well, Annie because she's now my daughter; and they saw the picture in the paper of you and I during her kidnapping."

_Oh that's right… _I thought. While I had figured how Annie played in, I'd almost forgotten about the photograph of Oliver and I standing to the side of the bridge and praying Annie wouldn't fall. Our holds on each other could have easily been seen as a 'romantic' gesture (even though it was in the greater scheme of things).

He went on. "Since you two are the closest to me, they want you… they want you as well. I'm sorry for being so frank, but I guess there's no hiding it anymore."

"And you've known this entire time?"

With a solemn nod, he answered, "Yes. I've known all week."

Deciding that I wished I had known, I lightly hit his shoulder. "How could you not have told me?" Tears were brewing in my eyes. I was terrified. But I knew that I needed to be on high alert right now. Not just for my sake, but for Annie's, God forbid she woke up. Also for Oliver—he didn't need to worry about my emotions while we were going through this.

"I was hoping to stop an attack before it happened. Obviously, the attempt wasn't successful. But I prepared for failure as well. I had some finishing touches put on this shelter and concocted an emergency plan."

"Why are you taking this so seriously? You never seemed affected by these threats and attempts before. Why now?"

Intertwining his fingers with mine and pressing his lips softly to my cheek, he mumbled, "Because now I have something to live for other than power and wealth." After leaving a kiss, he pulled away and slumped down against the back of the seat.

It took me a minute to collect myself internally. Never had I seen so much worry in his eyes, nor had I ever heard his voice so shaken. I hardly recognized this version Oliver, even with everything that had transpired over the past two weeks. He always appeared to have a great sense of control over any situation. This time, he exuded defeat. At a loss of what to do, I simply retook my place by his side. I tried shutting my eyes, but it was a lost cause. Looking up at Oliver, I whispered, "How will we know when it's safe to leave."

"Punjab or the Asp will give us an all clear."

"And we're just supposed to sit here and wait?"

Shooting me a funny look, he answered, "Yes… there isn't anything else we can do."

"I know… that was a dumb question."

Sympathetically, he hummed, "It's alright. I know you're scared."

"I'm not scared." I feebly protested.

"Grace…"

I sat up and we were locked in a cold stare for several seconds before I broke it by admitting, "Fine, yes. I am absolutely terrified."

Pulling me to his side once more, he said, "You don't need to be brave on my account."

Shaking my head, I objected, "This isn't the time to fall apart. It won't do anyone any good. I'll be fine."

He didn't say any more, he just guided my head to his shoulder, and rested his against my own.

I relaxed to the best of my ability, but it wasn't much. My mind was racing. I had to keep apologizing for gripping his arm so tightly. My eyes kept focusing on Annie. "Look at how peaceful she is." I observed.

"I just hope this is over before she wakes up…" he breathed.

Nodding my head in agreement, I said, "Thankfully she's usually a heavy sleeper."

There was another lull in our… well I can't really say it was a conversation. It was more like idle banter off and on. Nervous chatter could also be a fitting term. Either way, it was a lull nonetheless.

"I hope we make it through this. There's so much more to do; we can't die now." I shook, not knowing how much longer I could keep the cap on my emotions.

Sliding his hand from my hip to my head, he soothed, "We aren't going to die. Punjab and the Asp are wonderful bodyguards—you've seen them in action."

"Yes, I have." I murmured. "And with every attempt I've seen Bolsheviks get a little bit closer to success." My voice broke, and I needed to take a minute to make it strong again. When I did, I shook my head and went on. "It started with gunshots being fired when you were walking outside. Then it began to migrate onto your property. The bullets became bombs, and now they are actually in the house coming after us."

It was as if the life had completely drained from his eyes. "I suppose I hadn't thought about it so candidly."

"I'm sorry…"

"No, you don't have to apologize. I should have done more beforehand," Oliver said with defeat.

"Clearly, you've been working hard all week. And you managed to do it through everything else that's been going on." I pointed out.

"I mean before this week. I should have done more to stop the threats in the first place; before it got to this point. I was being selfish. It wasn't only me at risk, but you, and now Annie, and of course Punjab and the Asp. I know it's their job, but suddenly I'm seeing just how much risk they are in."

_Maybe he had the right idea when he didn't let himself feel anything. _"Now isn't the time to beat yourself up. Things can't get much worse than they are now, so perhaps this will mark an end to this little war." I didn't know what else to say.

With a heavy sigh, he shrugged, "I suppose you might be right. At least, I certainly hope you are."

I looked at him a moment as he stroked my hair, and I slowly traced my fingers along the collar of his nightshirt. After a moment or two, I said, "I'm proud of you, Oliver."

Looking down at me in puzzlement, he questioned, "You are?"

"Indeed, I am," I answered.

He scoffed. "For what? Putting your life along with Annie's at risk? For being boisterous and oblivious to anyone's needs but my own?"

"In a way, yes."

With even more confusion, he reacted, "What are you talking about?"

"A couple weeks ago, you never would have admitted to any of this—you wouldn't have ever recognized it. The fact that you now care about what's happens shows just how much you have grown. Just look at yourself right now:"

Confusion never leaving his face, he looked down to either side of him. "What?"

"You've got a little girl whom was once an orphan in your arms: the man who claimed a mere week ago that he only loved money, power, and capitalism, and that he would never love children. You are so wonderful with her, Oliver. She adores you. And you've also got me… someone who has cared for you for much longer than she'd like to admit."

At last, a smile. "You're ashamed for caring about me?" he quizzed.

Taking a deep breath, I admitted, "When I say care… I mean it as more than a certain level of concern if you were to come in harm's way. Rather, care in a sense that I look forward to seeing you every day. Care in a sense of looking forward to the next minute I get to spend time with you—**any **time with you. I meant it the other day when I said you make me happy. Even before now, I felt good when I was around you. Somehow I felt connected. I always knew that you had a heart of gold somewhere inside you; it was just a matter of finding it. I wouldn't trade these past few years for anything—especially these past two weeks. Annie has brought so much light and joy into this household. She gave me the courage to let guard down—more or less—and entertain the thought that maybe you would see me as more than your employee. When I found out that you shared my feelings I was completely blown away. Despite where we are now, this has been one of the happiest weeks of my life. Sure, it's been a bit bumpy; but by then end of the day when you and I are together and simply being in the presence of each other; knowing that a child who loves us deeply is asleep upstairs and dreaming of the mischief she's going to create for us the next day… everything feels good and right."

Dumbfounded is the only way to describe the way he looked at me. You'd think I had just asked him to solve a tricky arithmetic equation. I watched him struggle with a response. His mouth would open and close repeatedly, almost speaking, but nothing ever came out. Amusing as it was, I was starting to feel a bit uneasy given I'd just poured my heart out to him. Was what I said really so surprising?

"Oliver," I muttered, "is everything okay?"

"I'm sorry," he breathed. "I just don't know how to respond. I know I shouldn't be so shocked to hear this after this week… I'm not used to people thinking so highly of me."

I smiled, "Well get used to it, because I know that people are going to start seeing you the way Annie and I do."

"Oh Grace, what if I can't handle it?" he worried.

"You'll learn." I answered. "And we'll be here to help you. You just have to accept the love that people give you."

"I'll do my best."

Squeezing his hand I continued to smile. "You've done wonderfully in such a short amount of time. I don't mean to repeat myself, but it's a major accomplishment—especially since no one asked you to change." _Even though I may have subtly tried to persuade you…_

Looking at me with a serious expression, he ran the back of his finger along my jawline. "I did it for you."

"I love you, Oliver." Tears stung my eyes as I watched a tender grin touch his lips. He started to speak, but before he could utter anything more than 'I', the shelter door burst open, accompanied by a bellow from Punjab. "Sahib!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry to leave you guys with a cruel cliffhanger last chapter... maybe *evil grin*. Anyways, the end of the story is near and there should only be a couple more chapters after this one. Thank you SO much for all of your support and kind reviews. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!**

* * *

Oliver and I were pulled from our trance by the sudden commotion. Jolting up to our feet, we saw Punjab, along with the Asp trying to retain one of the Bolsheviks.

"What's going on?" a small and tired voice asked from behind us.

Without taking a second to explain, Oliver grabbed Annie. "Stay down," he heeded as he set her behind the couch.

"But what's going on?" she panicked, peaking her head up.

"I said stay down!" Oliver yelled, and Annie obeyed.

The struggle between the bodyguards and the Bolsheviks ensued. By now, the second intruder had joined them and tried getting past the men. Oliver attempted to shield me, but I was stubborn. There was no way I was going to let him die. At the risk of sounding cliché, it was an 'if you want to kill him, you'll have to go through me first' situation. This resulted in a struggle of our own. "This is silly, Oliver!" I finally shouted. "We should **both **be finding cover."

"You're right, you're right," he grumbled.

There weren't many other places to take cover, so we would have to squeeze behind the couch with Annie. Once again, there was some back and forth about who went first, but I gave in when he bellowed for me to 'just go'. However, as I started climbing up and over the couch, the uproar between the attackers and the bodyguards grew louder. One of the men broke free from either Punjab or the Asp (I hadn't seen which). The next several seconds went in slow motion. There were jumbled shouts, fists were thrown, and then, there was a click of a gun. Though it wasn't the smartest move on my part, I looked back to see what was happening. When I did, I instantly regretted it. I saw the Asp try to recapture the man. He was holding the gun up and aiming it in Oliver's direction. When the Asp grabbed him, his arm was inadvertently shifted. It moved from side to side a few times before he started losing the struggle. Clearly Oliver had seen more than I had, because when I resumed my attempt to duck behind the sofa I was quickly pulled down by Oliver.

"Grace!" he screeched as he clutched my arm, nearly pulling it out of the socket. We both fell towards the ground. Not a second later, the trigger was pulled.

Time grew even slower than it had before. Yet, at the same time, it all happened so quickly. As we were falling I heard the bullet wiz by. I could have sworn I felt it too, though it could have been my imagination. I'm not completely sure where I would have been hit, but there was no way he would have missed had Oliver not pulled me out of the way. The concrete wall now had a good sized bullet hole. Debris from the wall had gone flying. Oh how I hoped none of it had reached Annie (and I had hoped that she'd remained down and covered).

Thankfully, no other shots were fired. The man was recaptured and the gun was knocked from his hands. Without another word, Punjab and the Asp took the men out of the shelter. Presumably, they were taking them to the police whom I'm sure were close by, given there had been a faint sound of sirens in the distance.

Oliver and I remained motionless on the hard ground. My ears were ringing. The silence that fell upon the room was like the silence after an avalanche. Even though my head was resting on his arm an inch away, I could hear Oliver's heard pounding. Mine was racing itself. After taking several moments to catch our breaths and only beginning to process what had just occurred, I finally sat up. Looking at him, astonished, I breathed, "Oliver… you just saved my life."

He looked at me, but didn't move nor speak. Perhaps there was a faint smile on his lips, but it was hard to tell.

"Are you hurt?" I asked with great concern.

Shaking his head and taking my hand, he said, "No… I'm not hurt." I let out a sigh of relief before he questioned, "How about you? Did you get hit?"

"No, I'm alright."

We looked at each other for another few seconds. I was in complete astonishment. How had he been able to see and react so quickly? I was so thankful. My life could have been over. I certainly wasn't ready to leave this Earth; not when my life with him and Annie was just beginning.

My thoughts were pleasantly interrupted when he brought a hand up to my cheek and muttered, "I love you, too, Grace."

Now that the drama was over, I let myself cry. I couldn't hold it in any longer. Hearing Oliver say that he loved me prompted happy tears along with the belated terror.

Brushing the first few drops away, I leaned down and hovered over his lips as I whispered, "I owe you everything."

"You've already done so much."

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to speak with the large lump that had formed in my throat, I closed to space between us and kissed him. In no time at all, Oliver deepened the kiss and held me as close to him as he possibly could. Sobs escaped me as we embraced. I'd never felt so many emotions at one time before. It was overwhelming. Oliver had struggled with his own feelings. He was shaking and I could feel his heart still thudding against my chest. Eventually, he gave into the tears and let a few drops slip by.

"**Finally!**" Annie squeaked, reminding us of her presence in the room.

I parted with Oliver and quickly sat up. Annie was just crawling out from behind the couch. I frantically climbed up, grabbed her, pulled her onto my lap, and hugged her tightly. "Annie, are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

Just as I had feared, the debris from the bullet hitting the wall had been able to reach her. One side of her hair was tinted from the powder. As I brushed the white from her hair, she answered, "Yeah, I'm okay. I think a piece of the wall hit my ankle, but it doesn't hurt too bad."

Sitting up himself, Oliver scooted to the edge of the couch and gently took Annie's feet. "Left or right?"

She didn't acknowledge him aside from a blank stare for several seconds. After the pause, she hummed, "Umm…" Apparently she didn't know her left from right, but getting the gist of his question, she pointed, "This one." (her left.)

Oliver inspected her foot and leg and observed, "There's a bit of a scratch and a bruise, but it doesn't look too serious in this light."

"Good." I breathed.

Oliver joined us on the couch, and took one of Annie's hands. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this. What a great way to start of the celebration of your adoption, huh?" he said sarcastically.

Moving to his lap, Annie reassured, "It wasn't your fault."

While hugging her as tightly as I had, he shook his head. "You just can't seem to cut a break. It's only been two weeks and already you've been kidnapped and have had two run-ins with the Bolsheviks."

At this, Annie didn't respond.

Not bothering to correct Oliver's forthrightness with the child, I guided Annie's stare to meet my own. "Sweetheart, it's okay to be upset by this." I told her. I myself had yet to fully stop crying.

Giving me the same stare and silence as she'd given Oliver, she didn't respond. Her eyes began to shine, but somehow she held back. Sympathetically, I stroked her cheek before I gave her the space she seemed to need.

A couple minutes passed without any of us speaking. I guess we all needed some space to collect our thoughts. We were also waiting for an all clear to leave—so I gathered anyway. I for one was staying put until I knew for certain it was safe. I kept glancing between Oliver and Annie. It was funny how similar they were in some ways. Neither of them wanted to admit how scared they were (as they did in most situations). It took all I had not to draw it out of them. While I knew their holding back wasn't really a good thing, they needed to cope however they could right now. I did feel silly for being the one to continually cry though (but I'd calmed down quite a bit in those minutes). Oliver kept leaning over and patting my knee or shoulder, and at some point, Annie had shifted so she was sitting between us.

"So," Annie began, breaking the protracted silence. "Does this mean that you two are a couple now?"

I glanced to Oliver nervously. I hadn't meant to blow our secret, but at the same time, I didn't have any regrets. After being woken up in the middle of the night to hide, almost being killed, and being saved by him, there was no way I wasn't going to show my affection. Then again, he had said 'I love you' and certainly didn't push me away.

To my relief, Oliver smiled and said (never breaking his gaze with me), "I think we have to tell her."

Grinning as well, I nodded. "Yes, I think we do."

"Tell me what?" Annie quizzed.

Oliver nodded, giving me permission to declare the news. "Well dear, Oliver and I have been… we've been an item for several days now."

"And you didn't tell me!?" she reacted with widened eyes.

"We didn't want to interfere with the news of your adoption or your party." I clarified.

"That's right." Oliver interjected. "Given our business relationship, the press is going to go crazy when they find out. We didn't want to take any of the attention off of you."

"I don't care." Annie explained, "The party doesn't mean as much to me as having parents does. I wanna show you off to all the guests. I want 'em to see what a family we are." Then turning to me, she said a bit quieter, "Miss Farrell, I told you how badly I wanted you to be my mom."

I bit my lip as my heart dropped. I planned on taking a second before responding, but Oliver beat me to it when he turned Annie's focus back to him. "Please don't be upset with Grace: she wanted to tell you. Just this evening she was begging me to do so. I was scared of what might happen. I didn't want you to think we were trying to take the attention away from you."

"People have two eyes. One can be on me, and the other can be on both of you."

Oliver (and I) laughed at her clever sentiment. "Yes, I suppose that's true."

"Do you both love each other?" she hopefully questioned.

Once more, Oliver and I were locked in a gaze. "Very much…" he said softly with a particular twinkle in his eyes.

"Me too," I beamed.

"So when's the wedding?" she grilled with a wide and somewhat devious grin.

"Well…" I began. "We haven't gotten that far yet."

"Yes," Oliver agreed. "It's been a very hectic week."

"But you **will **get married, right?"

I felt my face grow red. Part of me was afraid of what Oliver's response may be. I had absolutely no reason to think he'd be against the notion, but there was definitely a bit of nervous doubt. I surely didn't want didn't want to voice my approval until I knew where he stood on the matter.

Oliver glanced at me shyly a moment before returning back to Annie. "I can't speak for Grace, but I certainly see marriage in the near future. Although, I had wanted it to be a surprise..."

"Oh please, not another surprise!" I groaned and (half) joked.

Oliver chuckled, "Deal: from here on out, no more secrets. Does that sound like a plan?"

"Deal." I quickly agreed. After this week of secrecy, I never wanted to know or keep another secret for as long as I lived.

Annie on the other hand wasn't so quick to agree. "You mean, **absolutely** no secrets?"

"They haven't done us any good so far." Oliver reminded.

Initially, I thought she was referring to her surprise for him at the party. However, she had another concern. "…You know the pudding you had for dessert earlier?"

A sudden nervousness entered his voice. "Yes…?"

"Well, I was in the kitchen before dinner and I caught Sandy lickin' it from your bowl."

Oliver froze in disbelief, and then proceeded to make a disgusted face. "Okay, some secrets can stay… especially if I've already eaten it…" he said through his teeth.

Annie and I both laughed hysterically at the thought. Oliver tried to chuckle, but I think he was still a bit queasy.

Our laughter soon died down, and I then projected, "Alight, so can we all agree that we—at least—won't keep anything big like relationships or impending attacks from each other anymore?"

Oliver and Annie both nodded. "Agreed."

"And Annie, it's up to you if you want to tell the party guests about me and Oliver."

"I already told ya, I wanna show everyone my new parents!"

Oliver smiled, "As you wish."


	19. Chapter 19

**This chapter is a bit shorter than what I've been posting, but a little bit of fluff might be good after the last two chapters. Also, I apologize for not having a set time for uploading. I'm participating in Camp NaNoWriMo in April, so I'll need my main focus to be on that story. Hence my faster uploads recently. There's only one more chapter after this... I hope to have it up within the next couple of days :)**

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The Asp came and told us that it would be safe to return to the house once Punjab was finished securing the grounds. We were so relieved. What a night it had been. I think it's safe to say that we were all ready to rest. Thank goodness tomorrow promised to be a positive day (as well as a good distraction from the commotion of tonight).

The Asp started leading us up to the house where we were soon greeted by Punjab, confirming it was all clear. Needless to say, Oliver (whom was carrying Annie) and I spent the entire time thanking them.

"I don't think they will bother you after tonight." The Asp said confidently.

"They will see they are no match." Punjab agreed.

Oliver breathed, "I hope you're both right."

"I never want to go through another horror like this as long as I live." I chimed in.

"Me either." Annie mumbled wearily.

Once we were upstairs, Oliver told the bodyguards to take the rest of the night off. Surely, there wouldn't be anything else to worry about for now. Quite frankly, after what we'd just gone through, there wasn't anything we couldn't handle. They were hesitant, but eventually gave in.

We tucked Annie in and told her to try and get some sleep. There were still a few hours left before sunrise; hopefully she'd be able to relax. We said our goodnights and told her to wake one—or both—of us up if she needed. She simply nodded, and we started for the door.

"Wait…" she ended up saying in a shaky voice just as we were walking into the hallway.

"Yes?" Oliver stopped and turned around.

"Are you sure those men aren't gonna come back?"

Oliver and I shared a knowing look and walked back over to her bed. Sitting down on the edge while I stood, Oliver promised, "They're gone for tonight, darling. First thing tomorrow morning I'm going to get to the bottom of this situation for once and for all."

"But what if you can't?"

Now sitting down next to Oliver, I positively confirmed, "Trust him, sweetheart. You know that when he wants something he doesn't rest until he gets it."

Annie's brow furrowed. "If that's so, how come you haven't stopped this yet?"

Oliver looked back at me, silently requesting I take over. I thought a moment, and then said, "He never saw much need, but after tonight… well, there will be some changes made."

"Are you sure?"

Oliver and I both nodded and said in unison, "Positive."

Annie looked back and forth between us before she quietly replied, "Alright… goodnight."

Oliver began to stand up, but I caught hold of his arm and mouthed 'wait a minute'. Turning my attention back to Annie, I questioned, "Do you still need to talk?"

Very slightly she shook her head, but I didn't say anything. I saw her eyes fill with tears as they had when we were still in hiding. A second later she sat up and hugged me tightly. I felt a few drops fall onto my arm. "I'm tired, Miss Farrell," she moaned, but didn't quite cry.

"I know…" While I was glad she wasn't going to be holding this in through her sleep, it was hard to see her upset. "Do you want us to stay here?"

She nodded in request as she released her grip around me, and then ran her hands over her eyes. Oliver picked her up and held her a moment while I crawled to the other side of the bed. He then said in a gentle voice. "I **will **see to it that another event like this never occurs in this house again."

"I'm sorry for cryin'. I tried not to."

Setting her down next to me, and then lying down next to her, Oliver replied, "You most certainly don't have to apologize."

"But I wasn't brave."

"'Wasn't brave'?" I reacted. "Annie, you are one of the bravest people I know. Given how your week started, I'm still shocked how you've managed to keep it together."

Her voice started to quiver again, "But I **didn't** keep it together… and even though it's over I still feel scared."

"We all do." Oliver informed.

"It's normal to feel scared. I know you grew up in a strict environment, but here you're allowed to feel what you're feeling. You don't have to put on a show for us."

Tears made reappearance down her cheeks. "When I heard the gun go off, and when I heard Mr. Warbucks yell, I thought you were shot; especially when you guys fell down."

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry."

"That was the scariest. I didn't wanna lose you—either of you. Other than that it wasn't any scarier than the bridge. At least this time I was on the ground."

_Of course_, it made perfect sense. Losing people she loved was a much deeper fear than a physical attack. That would be why she hadn't reacted too strongly when the bomb came through the window her first night here. That's not to say she wasn't fazed… she had kept asking me questions when I tried putting her back to bed, which I took as an avoidance of sleep. I don't think the addition of sleeping in an unfamiliar place helped either.

The more I entertained the thought, the harder I hugged her. At one point, Oliver had to say, "Grace, love, you're squishing the poor girl."

To this, he got a big laugh from both me and Annie—a much needed laugh too I might add. He then joined our bear hug and said, "I'm not going to let anything harm either of you ever again."

Of course I knew there was no way he could assure that nothing would **ever **happen to us, but it was nice to hear at the time. Besides, I knew that he'd do everything in his power to keep us safe.

…

Eventually Annie, and then Oliver, fell asleep, but I lay wide away. Naturally, I was rerunning the entire day and night over and over in my mind. It was all so surreal. Never in my life had I imagined such a near death experience. I hadn't imagined any of my current life come to think of it. When I was growing up, I thought living in a big mansion was only achievable in a fairytale. After I turned 30, I'd sort of given up hope on the idea of falling in love and having children. True, I was still in love with Oliver at the time, but I'd somewhat concluded it as an excuse not to settle down. I loved my job and I loved to work.

Many times I'd tried to get my mind off of my feelings for him. I even went out on a few informal dates in attempts to turn my eye. None of them ever worked out. The men were wonderful and kind, but my heart just wasn't interested. Having Oliver now by my side was still a truth I'd yet to come to terms with. Not only that, but also the fact that Annie was going to be my daughter. Despite my 'humored' reaction when Oliver had said he wished to marry me, I was really whisked away. I was hoping to talk to him about it after Annie was asleep, but I guess things turned out for the better. Since he had said that he'd wanted to surprise me, I decided I'd let him choose the time and place. It wasn't going to be an easy wait though…

Once my thoughts shifted to Annie and Oliver, my head finally began to calm and my heart stopped racing. After what I estimated to be an hour, my eyelids slowly fell and I was able to join the two loves of my life in a sound sleep.


	20. Chapter 20

**It took me a bit longer than I planned, but here's the final chapter! I seriously cannot thank you all enough for your support, feedback, and encouragement. When I started writing this story last May, I never ever imagine a big story to blossom from it. Writing this was certainly a challenge for me since I'm not accustomed to writing in first person, but I'm very glad I continued with it instead of switching to third or plain giving up. **

**I want to give a special thanks to me frequent reviewers: colee41, TheUnnamedAvatar, PippinSecondBreakfeast, Silvermisstt, Lindsay, Megie, and Ani123. Thank you everyone else so much too. I know I keep saying this, but you're reviews mean the world to me. ****I definitely plan on writing more Annie stories in the future.**

**Without further ado... enjoy!**

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"Mr. Warbucks, Miss Farrell, wake up!" Annie shouted as she shook me and Oliver awake.

Thinking that there was something wrong, my eyes immediately opened wide and I sat up. "What's the matter? Is everything alright?"

Annie giggled somewhat guiltily. "No, nothing's wrong," she answered. "But today's my party! There's still so much to do. We slept late, we gotta get moving!"

Oliver too had awoken; much to his chagrin. Turning on his side facing away from us, he grumbled, "We get to sleep in today."

"Aw, come on Mr. Warbucks. It's already late. You'll have plenty of time to sleep after the party."

"What time is it?" he asked.

Peeking over him to read the clock on her side table, she answered, "It's 7:51—we missed breakfast!"

Pulling her off of Oliver, I said, "Don't worry; I'm sure breakfast was held for us."

"Really?"

"Really. There's plenty of time, I promise." Actually, I was feeling a bit pressed for time now realizing that it was nearly 8 AM. People would be arriving before noon to begin set up. With the President and the First Lady arriving at 5 PM, and the other guests arriving at 8 PM, there really wasn't any time to waste… but looking around the room, with the sun shining through the window, and watching Annie continue her attempts to rouse Oliver, a leisurely morning was tempting. After the near death experience mere hours before, I didn't want to hurry. I wanted to spend time with… well, with my family. It was kind of funny using that word. Yes, work and final party preparations would have to wait a little while longer.

Now lying back down and turning to my side, I began assisting Annie with her attempts in waking Oliver (or rather getting him to surrender to the day and stop trying to go back to sleep). I probably should have felt bad about this given I now knew that he'd spent the week worrying about the Bolsheviks. Yet, at the same time, I was just so excited that we didn't have to hide our relationship anymore. I kept thinking about how Annie viewed today as the official mark of her adoption. Perhaps she was on to something. Oliver and I were officially going to be parents. Okay, so maybe **I **wasn't quite an official family member **yet**, but I felt as though I was. I loved Annie with all my heart. I have no idea how I'd been instantly so attached to her, but I had, and I wasn't about to question it. Oliver had even noted my bond with her several times.

Oh yes, Oliver. He was still fighting for 'five more minutes', but we weren't about to quit.

"Come on, Mr. Warbucks! It's two against one. You gotta get up," she whined.

Patting his arm, I supported, "She's right, dear. There is no way you are going to win this one."

Finally, turning onto his back, he reacted, "You can't possibly feel awake right now."

I laughed. "I've been waking up to this for a week and a half now. Be thankful there's no dog jumping on top of you and licking your face."

"There's no dog licking my face because he knows what's good for him," he teased.

"Yes, I'm sure he does."

"Well, at least your eyes are open..." Annie huffed. "Can we **please **go eat breakfast now?"

At last giving in to her requests (or demands), he sat up. "Alright, alright, we may. Let's all get dressed first though, shall we?"

"Okay," she said while hopping down off the bed and making a dash for her closet.

I quietly chuckled at her reaction as I sat up again. Meanwhile, Oliver yawned, still trying to fully wake up. He turned his head to look at me and wearily bid, "Good morning."

"Good morning," I smiled in reply.

Before his next question, he leaned over and softly kissed my lips. "How did you sleep?"

"Well given everything that happened."

"How are you feeling?"

I shrugged, "Alright, I suppose." Now that I thought about it, I was feeling a bit achy. My arm in particular was sore from his grabbing me. Otherwise, it was almost a blur. I'd been so tired and scared that I guess it seemed more like a dream than anything. "How about you?" I then asked.

"I'll say the same."

Really seeing how tired he looked, I offered, "If you want to go back to sleep after breakfast, I'll take care of your work for you."

"Thank you," he said, but he shook his head. "I've got to see what the damage is from last night and start putting an end to it all—like I told Annie."

"Oh, that's right."

"Besides, you already have your hands full. If need be I'll take a nap just as Franklin arrives," he winked.

"That's another feud I'd like to see end." I scoffed. "Honestly, this is getting ridiculous. He's not as bad as you make him out to be."

Jokingly, he replied, "Don't tell me that Annie has turned you into a Democrat!"

I rolled by eyes, "Don't worry; but either way, he is a good man. I'm not saying you have to agree with everything he says, but you can at least be civil towards him."

Wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close to him, he said, "You're right… I'll do my best to be nice." He spoke in a tone which sounded like one a child would use after being told he had to play with his nemesis on the playground.

"That's all I ask." I grinned and tilted my head up to kiss him.

As our lips touched, Annie stepped out of her closet and groaned, "You're supposed to be getting dressed."

Oliver and I laughed as we pulled away from one another. "I thought this was what you wanted," he said, indicating our display of affection with a wag of his finger between us.

"It is," she answered. "But I don't wanna see it **all **the time—especially when I'm hungry."

We laughed again, and I then said, "Okay; we're getting up. We'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes."

When we both started to leave, Annie halted us with a 'wait'. We turned, and she asked, "Am I allowed to tell people that you're a couple now?"

I looked to Oliver in question with raised eyebrows. "What do you think?"

"I suppose we owe her this much…" he said after a pause.

Without waiting for a sure 'yes' Annie ran out of the room yelling, "EVERYBODY GUESS WHAT!?"

The day went along smoothly. It was full, but it was smooth. I was surprised by my energy. Somehow my excitement and busyness overpowered any lingering anxiety or weariness. The workers started setting up before lunch and worked straight through until the President and his wife arrived. When they were taken to see how the yard was coming along, the crew froze in awe. It was quite amusing I must say.

Shortly after Franklin and Eleanor were settled and supper was served, Annie and I picked up her friends from the orphanage. What a trip that was. I thought that they had been beyond excited when we went shopping, but now they had at least five times more energy! I couldn't complain though.

When we arrived back to the house, we all went upstairs to start getting ready. I'm glad that we had a couple hours, because we needed every minute. The time was well spent though. All of the girls looked absolutely adorable in their new clothes and with their hair done.

"Annie, look at me!" Molly squealed as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "I've never ever had a dress so pretty before."

"Me either!" July cheered as she finished adjusting her bow.

Kate joined in. "You're so lucky that you're adopted."

Annie humbly smiled, "Yeah, Mr. Warbucks and Miss Farrell are the best." She looked back at me as I was curling Duffy's hair.

"Can we still be friends with you even though you're rich now?" Tessie asked shyly.

"Of course!" Annie answered. "I love you guys no matter who my parents are."

"Annie, do you think you're new daddy can find me a new mommy?" Molly begged.

"Absolutely," Annie promised as she pinned the little girl's hat. "I'll ask him to find parents for all of ya."

The girls gasped and said in unison, "Really?!" (With the acceptation of Pepper, who's 'really' implied more of a challenge.)

"I'll ask him at the party. All dolled up like this you'll find parents before you know it."

…

With the clock nearing 8, I excused myself to my room so I could get dressed. I did so rather quickly, and then started my hair, knowing that would be the more time consuming task.

"Miss Farrell!" Annie greeted. "It's 8 o'clock. I see the cars starting to pull up! My friends went outside. I told them I'd come down in a little while. Are you almost ready?"

"Yes, I'm just finishing my hair." I answered. After putting in the final pins, I turned around to see Annie still wearing her outfit from dinner. "Why aren't you dressed?" I interrogated.

"I was helping the other girls."

I chuckled, "Well what a sight it will be when the guest of honor appears the least 'dolled up' as you so put it."

She giggled, "I'll get ready in a minute. I wanted to see your dress."

On cue, I stood up and spun around. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful! Mr. Warbucks is gonna think so too," she smirked.

Blushing, I replied, "I hope so."

"I think it's missing something though…" she observed.

"Oh?" I probed. "Like what?"

Standing back, she studied me up and down before answering. "I think you need a necklace."

I thought a moment and then remembered, "I think I have just the thing." I walked over to my dresser and opened the jewelry box that sat atop. Pulling out the pearls that Oliver had given me earlier in the week, I then held them up and asked, "Will this work?"

"Leapin' Lizards, those beads are so pretty!"

With a slight laugh, I replied, "They're called pearls."

Annie shrugged, "Whatever they are I like 'em. You should definitely wear them."

"Very well," I nodded as I placed the 'beads' around my neck and fastened the clasp. "Better?"

"Perfect."

"Good. Now you, my dear, must be getting dressed. I wish I could help you get ready, but I should have been downstairs greeting guests about 5 minutes ago."

"That's okay, I can manage."

…

Downstairs, I saw Oliver standing by the door and talking to some people who had just arrived. Not wanting to interrupt, I quietly walked up and joined his side while politely smiling to the couple he was talking to. We ended up walking them to the yard since they'd never been to the house before. Once they joined the party, Oliver took my arm and said, "Come with me for a moment."

Confused, I asked, "Where are we going? People are still arriving."

"I know. We'll be back in a minute or two."

So I followed. He led me to the garden which was somewhat away from the guests. As soon as we stopped walking, he just kind of looked at me with a funny expression on his face. "What's this all about, Oliver?"

"Grace…" he started, but quickly trailed off, looking away from me.

I was growing suspicious. I couldn't judge if this was going to be good news or bad news. There was no telling after the past few days.

His eyes were back on me, and he said, "You look… breathtaking. And you're wearing the necklace I gave you."

I shyly smiled, "So do you." He did. It wasn't often I saw him in a white jacket. I'd become so accustomed to seeing him in all black suits. The white was a nice and very handsome change. "And yes, I am."

Once more, he grew nervous, causing me to as well. "Is something the matter?" I finally asked, not caring to hide my uneasiness.

"Oh, certainly not. I apologize. No, everything is fine."

"Then why have you gone pale with fear."

Uncomfortably, he chuckled, "Well, fear might be too strong a word." He straightened his tie, and then took my hands. "I brought you back here because… well I have something to ask you."

Now seeing where this conversation was headed, my eyes widened and I softly replied, "You do?"

With another chuckle, he said, "Well, at least I was able to keep some element of surprise." He paused to take a deep breath, and then he began. "Grace, in the past weeks, I've come to see just how much you've been to me all these years. My biggest regret is not treating you better. I was harsh, unreasonable, rude, ignorant… I took all of my problems out on you. For whatever reason, you claim to love me despite my faults. Recently, I've grown to love you more than I ever thought I was capable of loving anyone. The more I think about it, I've realized that, in my own way, I have loved you for a while. I trusted you more than anyone else. Showing trust was the only love I knew how to feel. So many times over the past few days I've wanted declare these feelings, but I never knew how or when. I was shy. As you know, I'm still very new to all of these emotions. I'm just happy to have you and Annie to help me discover them. I will forever be thankful to you for bringing Annie into my life, and for pushing me to let her stay. I never knew what I was missing by choosing work over a family, and I am so blessed to have been given one before it was too late." He stopped for a moment. Just long enough to reach into his pocket and pull out a tiny box. Opening the box, he got down on one knee, looked deeply into my tear-filled eyes, and continued, "I know this might seem awfully fast, and I know when we got together we agreed to take it slow, but after what happened last night… I don't want to wait. I know what I want and I don't want to waste any more time. I want to spend the rest of my days with the both of you. I want the three of us to be a family. I want you to be Annie's mother. I want to wake up beside you every morning and fight you and Annie to let me go back to sleep. I want to be your husband. I want the world to know my love for you. You are such an incredible, kind, smart, beautiful, and good-hearted woman. So, this brings me to my question…" His voice, along with his voice shook as he finished. "Grace Farrell, will you marry me?"

Tears rushed down my cheeks. I knew that this was coming eventually, but I hadn't pictured it being at this moment. Not that I had a problem with it. I was ecstatic. I'd wanted nothing more than to hear those words for years; now my wish was finally coming true. I was just frustrated that I was too overcome with emotion to speak. Every time I tried saying 'yes' a sob would escape me instead. When Oliver started looking panicky from my reaction, I forced myself to nod. Tears now filling his eyes as he let out a sigh of relief, took the ring from its box, and then slid it on to my finger. I took a moment to admire it. The sapphire middle sparkled from the lights in the yard, accompanied by two smaller diamonds to either side of the stone. I wouldn't call it a large ring, but rather elegantly demure. That's not to say the gems were tiny either. All in all, it was perfect. What made it so perfect was what it stood for. I **was** going to be Oliver's wife—Mrs. Warbucks—and I **was** going to be Annie's mother, and the future was filled with promise.

By now, Oliver was standing, and I fell into his arms. We hugged each other tightly for a moment, and then joyfully kissed.

"I love you so much, Oliver." I said as we broke; only just now pulling myself together.

"And I love you, Grace," he smiled and kissed my cheek. Pulling away from our lingering hold, he retook my hands as he had just minutes before and said, "We should be getting back to the party."

"Yes, perhaps we should," I answered.

Holding his arm out, which I took, we slowly started walking out of the garden.

As we walked, I suddenly wondered, "When on earth did you find time to get me a ring?"

"One of the times I snuck out wasn't in matters of the Bolsheviks," he slyly answered.

I looked to him in admiration. "Oliver Warbucks, you are full of surprises." We both laughed, and then I switched gears a bit by saying, "I can't wait to tell Annie, this will make tonight even happier for her."

"I'm sure it will," he grinned widely. "But perhaps we should wait until after-"

Abruptly, I cut him off, "Oh no, don't even finish that sentence. I refuse to keep another secret from her."

At this, he roared with laughter, "Okay, no more secrets. We can tell her when she comes outside. By the way, where is she? It's well past 8 and I would have thought she'd be here before everyone else."

"She was so busy helping everyone get ready that she neglected to dress herself." I answered as we now rejoined the guests. Releasing my arm from his, I suggested, "Why don't you wait for her inside. I'm sure she'll be down any minute."

"I will," he smiled. He then went to kiss me, but a couple of Annie's friends came up to me and started leading me somewhere, taking my attention away. I did glance back at him though with an apologetic look. He nodded with a chuckle, and then went to wait for Annie.

About 5 minutes later, I saw Annie and Oliver bounced out of the house together. They both looked as happy as could be. They sang and danced around the yard while everyone admired the sight. When they worked their way over to where I was standing, Oliver stopped the number to finish the kiss he had attempted before. At this point, I showed Annie the ring and instantly she knew what it meant. "I'm so happy for you, Mom!" she cheered as she jumped into my arms. My heart soared. After I set her down, she and Oliver went back to dancing together (though he did save a dance for me as well).

Just before the fireworks began, Oliver gave Annie the locket he had offered her when he first asked to adopt her. This time she took it, and he put it around her neck. She read the inscription, and said before she hugged him, "I love you, Daddy Warbucks." I then joined them (with another kiss from Oliver), and the 3 of us (and Sandy) stood together and watched the sky over the mansion.

What a wonderful start this was for our family. This was how it was going to be from now , there would be ups and downs throughout our lives; we learned that lesson very well through all of this. But by the end of the day, we'd all be together—_**forever**_.

The end.


End file.
